• Patompong Ungprasert, Anawin Sanguankeo, and Sikarin Upala.
• a Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine , Mayo Clinic , Rochester , MN , USA.
• Mod Rheumatol. 2016 Jan 1; 26 (1): 128-31.

BackgroundSeveral chronic inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and idiopathic inflammatory myositis, have been shown to increase risk of ischemic stroke but the data on systemic sclerosis (SSc) remains unclear.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies that reported odds ratio, relative risk, hazard ratio, or standardized incidence ratio comparing risk of ischemic stroke in patients with SSc versus non-SSc participants. Pooled risk ratio and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method of DerSimonian and Laird.ResultsFour retrospective cohort studies were identified and included in our data analysis. We found a statistically significant elevated ischemic stroke risk in patients with SSc with a pooled risk ratio of 1.68 (95% CI, 1.26-2.24). The statistical heterogeneity was moderate with an I(2) of 69%.ConclusionsOur study demonstrated a statistically significant increased ischemic stroke risk among patients with SSc.

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