Vascular Inflammation in Patients with Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis is Associated with Sacroiliitis by FDG-PET/CT: A Pilot Study

Friday, November 08, 2013 — Poster Session III
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.	FAES Academic Center (Upper-Level Terrace)	NIAMS	CLIN-24

Authors

SM Rose
J Dave
K Sonti
MP Playford
NN Mehta

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is increased in psoriasis (PSO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). FDG-PET/CT identifies vascular inflammation, which has been shown to predict cardiovascular events and be increased in PSO and PsA. Sacroiliac (SI) inflammation heralds worse joint disease, yet its relationship to vascular inflammation is unknown. We performed FDG-PET/CT (mean and maximum standard uptake values (SUV) reported) to determine if SI joint and vascular inflammation (primary outcome) were related in PSO patients with and without PsA. Linear regression (SI joint beta-coefficient (β) reported) was used to adjust for CVD risk factors to assess for associations between SI and vascular inflammation. Patients with PSO alone (n=11) and PsA (n=7) had no difference in CVD risk factors. SI inflammation (SUVmax 5.46±0.55 vs 4.93±0.12; p<0.001) was greater in PsA than PSO and correlated with vascular inflammation (r 0.45, p<0.001). After adjustment for CVD risk factors, SI inflammation mean (β 0.45, 0.45, 0.88, 0.89, 1.36) and maximum (β 0.18, 0.16, 0.30, 0.35, 0.50) SUV values were associated with ascending, arch, descending, suprarenal, and infrarenal aortic inflammation, respectively (p<0.001). Our findings demonstrate that SI joint inflammation is associated with increased vascular inflammation, suggesting that SI disease may identify patients at greater risk for CVD.