P56 Coronary artery calcification in Danish SLE patients without known cardiovascular disease: comparison with the general population, myositis and diabetes patients

Objective Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is thought to be due to accelerated atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in SLE patients compared to a subset of the general population and to patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) and diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods 104 SLE patients, 2,237 controls from the general population, 69 IIM patients and 175 DM patients were screened for CAC. In all cohorts patients with symptoms of or known CVD were excluded. CAC was measured in Agatston score and classified as any (score>0), high (>399 U) or extremely high (>1000 U). To compare the groups multivariate logistic regression was used. Results The SLE patients were younger and more often females, but compared to the general population, IIM and DM patients, they had more severe calcifications (high CAC score: 33% versus 19%, 25% and 30%, respectively and extreme high CAC scores: 20% versus 6%, 8% and 13%. Adjusted for age and sex, SLE patients had substantially higher odds ratios (OR) for high and extreme high CAC compared to the general population, IIM patients and DM patients (high CAC: OR 6.2, 3.2 and 3.0, respectively and extreme high CAC: 10.7, 8.7 and 4.7, respectively). Conclusion In the setting of individuals without previous known CVD, SLE patients independently of age and sex had more severe coronary atherosclerosis, not only compared to the general population, but also compared to patients with IIM and even to patients with DM.