Role of psoriasis on subclinical cardiovascular disease

Systemic inflammation may induce atherosclerosis progression and psoriasis may represent an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis1. We assessed indexes of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and arterial stiffness in patients at low or high cardiovascular risk . We show that psoriatic patients at both low and high cardiovascular risk have an increased prevalence of LV concentric remodeling, but no differences were found in terms of E/e', probably because LV diastolic dysfunction represents an advanced marker of ventricular impairment.In conclusion, LV concentric remodeling, but not increased arterial stiffness, was more common in psoriatic patients at low CV. LV concentric remodeling and increased arterial stiffness were more prevalent in psoriatic patients at high CV risk. These data show that psoriasis may exert an additional negative effect on the cardiovascular system in patients with a higher prevalence of traditional CV risk factors.