RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Risk of venous thromboembolism in ankylosing spondylitis: a general population-based study
JF Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
JO Ann Rheum Dis
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and European League Against Rheumatism
SP 480
OP 485
DO 10.1136/annrheumdis-2018-214388
VO 78
IS 4
A1 Juan Antonio Aviña-Zubieta
A1 Jonathan Chan
A1 Mary De Vera
A1 Eric C Sayre
A1 Hyon Choi
A1 John Esdaile
YR 2019
UL http://ard.bmj.com/content/78/4/480.abstract
AB Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep venous thrombosis (DVT), can be life threatening. An increased frequency of VTE has been found in inflammatory conditions. To date, evidence assessing whether this risk is also greater in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is scarce.Methods Using the provincial British Columbia, Canada healthcare database that encompasses all residents within the province, we conducted matched cohort analyses of incident PE, DVT and overall VTE among incident cases of AS and compared them with individuals randomly selected from the general population without AS. We calculated incidence rates (IRs) of VTE and multivariable analyses after adjusting for traditional risk factors using Cox models.Results Among 7190 incident cases of AS, 35 developed PE and 47 developed DVT. IRs of PE, DVT and overall VTE per 1000 person-years for patients with AS were 0.79, 1.06, 1.56 compared with 0.40, 0.50, 0.77 in the control cohort. Corresponding fully adjusted HRs (95% CI) of PE, DVT and VTE were 1.36 (0.92 to 1.99), 1.62 (1.16 to 2.26) and 1.53 (1.16 to 2.01), respectively. The risks of PE, DVT and VTE were highest in the first year of diagnosis with HR (95% CI) of 2.88 (0.87 to 9.62), 2.20 (0.80 to 6.03) and 2.10 (0.88 to 4.99), respectively.Conclusions These findings demonstrate an increased risk of VTE in the general AS population. This risk appears the most prominent in the first year after diagnosis.