Introduction:

The presence of cardiovascular risk factors aggravates the prognosis of patients with psoriatic arthritis.

Objective:

To determine cardiovascular risk factors in patients diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis.

Methods:

A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at the Rheumatology Service of Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital from January 2021 to April 2022. Demographic, clinical, and hemochemical variables related to the disease were collected, as well as Framingham risk score and he evaluation of subclinical carotid atherosclerosis.

Results:

Eighty nine patients with mean age of 56.3 ± 11.8 years were included, 69.7% female, 48.3% with evolution older than 10 years and 77.5% with peripheral involvement. Disease activity by ASDAS index was high (55.1%), the same as by BASDAI (68.5%). The most frequent cardiovascular risk factors were dyslipidemia (61.8%), obesity (59.6%) and arterial hypertension (50.6%). Obesity, diabetes and arterial hypertension were higher in patients with high disease activity. Carotid atherosclerosis was higher in patients with smoking habits, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. 39.3% showed increased intima media thickness and 27.0% had carotid plaque. In patients with carotid atherosclerosis, 25.7% were considered low risk by Framingham.

Conclusions:

Cardiovascular risk factors occurred with high frequency, associated with subclinical atherosclerosis, inflammatory activity and underestimation of risk by the Framingham scale.

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