TY - JOUR
T1 - Cardiovascular risk among Giant cells arteritis patients
AU - Guedon, Alexis F
AU - Espitia, Olivier
AU - Beydon, Maxime
AU - Ghrenassia, Etienne
AU - Mirault, Tristan
AU - Messas, Emmanuel
AU - Tubach, Florence
AU - Seror, Raphaèle
AU - Boccara, Franck
AU - Cohen, Ariel
AU - Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth
AU - Nordestgaard, Børge Grønne
AU - Dellal, Azeddine
AU - Fain, Olivier
AU - Mekinian, Arsène
AU - Carrat, Fabrice
N1 - © The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact [email protected].
PY - 2026/1/14
Y1 - 2026/1/14
N2 - OBJECTIVES: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a chronic large-vessel vasculitis affecting older adults, associated with significant cardiovascular (CV) complications. Understanding CV risk drivers among GCA, including classical CV risk factors and inflammation, is essential for improved patient management. We (i) assessed the association between GCA and risks of cardiovascular events, including aortic events, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), peripheral artery disease (PAD) events, and visceral artery events (ii) assessed the impact of traditional CV risk factors and GCA disease activity on these outcomes.METHODS: Using the French National Health Data System (SNDS), we included 23,193 patients aged ≥50 years diagnosed with incident GCA from 2012-2022. Patients were matched with a general population cohort (92,772 individuals) and a hospitalized cohort (92,772 individuals) using propensity score matching based on CV comorbidities. Primary outcomes were first incidence of aortic events, MACE, PAD events, and visceral artery events.RESULTS: Patients with GCA faced an increased risk of all CV outcomes compared with the general population cohort: aortic events (HR: 5.33; 95%CI, 4.50-6.32), MACE (HR: 2.15; 95% CI, 2.04-2.26), PAD events (HR: 2.72; 95%CI, 2.47-2.99), and visceral artery events (HR: 3.04; 95%CI, 2.33-3.97).When compared with the hospitalized cohort, GCA patients had increased risk of all outcomes except for MACE risk which did not significantly differ (HR: 1.01; 95%CI, 0.96-1.06). GCA disease activity was associated with increased MACE (HR: 1.98; 95%CI, 1.63-2.42).CONCLUSIONS: GCA significantly increases risks of vascular complications, highlighting the importance of cardiovascular risk management and inflammation control strategies.
AB - OBJECTIVES: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a chronic large-vessel vasculitis affecting older adults, associated with significant cardiovascular (CV) complications. Understanding CV risk drivers among GCA, including classical CV risk factors and inflammation, is essential for improved patient management. We (i) assessed the association between GCA and risks of cardiovascular events, including aortic events, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), peripheral artery disease (PAD) events, and visceral artery events (ii) assessed the impact of traditional CV risk factors and GCA disease activity on these outcomes.METHODS: Using the French National Health Data System (SNDS), we included 23,193 patients aged ≥50 years diagnosed with incident GCA from 2012-2022. Patients were matched with a general population cohort (92,772 individuals) and a hospitalized cohort (92,772 individuals) using propensity score matching based on CV comorbidities. Primary outcomes were first incidence of aortic events, MACE, PAD events, and visceral artery events.RESULTS: Patients with GCA faced an increased risk of all CV outcomes compared with the general population cohort: aortic events (HR: 5.33; 95%CI, 4.50-6.32), MACE (HR: 2.15; 95% CI, 2.04-2.26), PAD events (HR: 2.72; 95%CI, 2.47-2.99), and visceral artery events (HR: 3.04; 95%CI, 2.33-3.97).When compared with the hospitalized cohort, GCA patients had increased risk of all outcomes except for MACE risk which did not significantly differ (HR: 1.01; 95%CI, 0.96-1.06). GCA disease activity was associated with increased MACE (HR: 1.98; 95%CI, 1.63-2.42).CONCLUSIONS: GCA significantly increases risks of vascular complications, highlighting the importance of cardiovascular risk management and inflammation control strategies.
U2 - 10.1093/eurjpc/zwag034
DO - 10.1093/eurjpc/zwag034
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 41537566
SN - 2047-4873
JO - European Journal of Preventive Cardiology
JF - European Journal of Preventive Cardiology
ER -