Young people with severe psoriasis may be at risk for myocardial infarction (MI), new findings indicate. Researchers studied 127,139 people with mild psoriasis, 3,837 people with severe psoriasis, and 556,995 people without psoriasis and followed them for an average of 5.4 years. They adjusted for major cardiovascular conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, and lipid abnormalities.

During follow-up, 13,625 MIs occurred in all study groups.

* 2% occurred in the group without psoriasis.

* 1.8% occurred in the group with mild psoriasis.

* 2.9% occurred in the group with severe psoriasis.

The relative risk of MI was greatest in young people with severe psoriasis. For example, mild psoriasis in a 30-year-old person raised the risk of MI by 1.29-fold; the risk increased 3.10-fold in someone the same age with severe psoriasis.

The researchers note that psoriasis is the most common T-helper cell immunologic disease and that these disorders have previously been linked to MI. From the results of this study, they concluded that psoriasis may confer an independent risk of MI and that the relative risk is greatest in young people with severe psoriasis.

SourceGelfand JM, et al., Risk of myocardial infarction in patients with psoriasis, JAMA, October 11, 2006.