Background Recent studies suggest that psoriasis, particularly if severe, may be a risk factor for major adverse cardiac events such as myocardial infarction, stroke, and mortality from cardiovascular disease. We compared the risk of major adverse cardiac events between patients with psoriasis and the general population and estimated the attributable risk of severe psoriasis. Methods We performed a cohort study in the General Practice Research Database. Severe psoriasis was defined as receiving a psoriasis diagnosis and systemic therapy (N=3,603). Up to 4 patients without psoriasis were selected from the same practices and start dates for each patient with psoriasis (N=14,330). Results Severe psoriasis was a risk factor for major adverse cardiac events (hazard ratio 1.53; 95% confidence interval 1.26, 1.85) after adjusting for age, gender, diabetes, hypertension, tobacco use and hyperlipidemia. After fully adjusted analysis, severe psoriasis conferred an additional 6.2% absolute risk of 10-year major adverse cardiac events. Conclusions Severe psoriasis confers an additional 6.2% absolute risk of 10-year rate of major adverse cardiac events compared to the general population. This potentially has important therapeutic implications for cardiovascular risk stratification and prevention in patients with severe psoriasis. Future prospective studies are needed to validate these findings.

To evaluate the feasibility of using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomographycomputed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) to detect and quantify systemic inflammation in patients with psoriasis.Design: Case series with a nested case-control study.Setting: Referral dermatology and preventive cardiology practices.Participants: Six patients with psoriasis affecting more than 10% of their body surface area and 4 controls age and sex matched to 4 of the patients with psoriasis for a nested case-control study. Main Outcome Measures:The FDG uptake in the liver, musculoskeletal structures, and aorta measured by mean standardized uptake value, a measure of FDG tracer uptake by macrophages and other inflammatory cells.Results: FDG-PET/CT identified numerous foci of inflammation in 6 patients with psoriasis within the skin, liver, joints, tendons, and aorta. Inflammation in the joints

Objective To understand whether directly-measured psoriasis severity is associated with vascular inflammation assessed by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography computed tomography (FDG PET/CT). Approach In depth cardiovascular and metabolic phenotyping was performed in adult psoriasis patients (n=60) and controls (n=20). Psoriasis severity was measured using psoriasis area severity index (PASI). Vascular inflammation was measured using average aortic target-to-background ratio using FDG PET/CT. Results Both the psoriasis patients (28 men, 32 women, mean age 47 years) and controls (13 men, 7 women, mean age 41 years) were young with low cardiovascular risk. PASI scores (Median 5.4; IQR 2.8-8.3) were consistent with mild to moderate skin disease severity. Increasing PASI score was associated with an increase in aortic TBR (β=0.41, p=0.001), an association that changed little after adjustment for age, sex and Framingham risk score. We observed evidence of increased neutrophil frequency (mean psoriasis: 3.7±1.2; vs 2.9±1.2; p=0.02) and activation by lower neutrophil surface CD16 and CD62L in blood. Serum levels of S100A8/A9 (745.1±53.3 vs 195.4±157.8 ng/mL; p<0.01) and neutrophil elastase-1 (43.0±2.4 vs 30.8±6.7 ng/mL; p<0.001) were elevated in psoriasis. Finally, S100A8/A9 protein related to both psoriasis skin disease severity (β=0.53; p=0.02) and vascular inflammation (β=0.48; p=0.02). Conclusions Psoriasis severity is associated with vascular inflammation beyond cardiovascular risk factors. Psoriasis increased neutrophil activation and neutrophil markers, and S100A8/A9 related to both skin disease severity and vascular inflammation.