Cardiovascular Morbidity in Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Focus on Inflammatory Cardiac Disease

Abstract

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is associated with an increase in cardiovascular (CV) morbidity when compared to the general population. The increased risk of CV involvement in AS is likely multifactorial including inflammation accelerating atherosclerosis and the cardiac inflammation itself in the form of aortitis and conduction anomalies. Establishing indisputable evidence linking AS and CV disease is challenging due to AS being relatively rare and it affects 1:1,000 and all studies analyzing the association between AS and CV disease involve a small sample size making long-term outcome measurements limited. The article reviews the literature studying the association between AS and CV disease as well as the impact of therapies for AS on the CV system (CVS).