• Claudia Mendoza-Pinto, Pamela Munguía-Realpzo, Mario García-Carrasco, Karla Godinez-Bolaños, Adriana Rojas-Villarraga, Ivet Morales-Etchegaray, Jorge Ayón-Aguilar, Socorro Méndez-Martínez, and Ricard Cervera.
• Department of Rheumatology, Medicine School, Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla, Puebla, Mexico; Systemic Autoimmune Diseases Research Unit, Specialties Hospital UMAE, Mexican Social Security Institute, Puebla, México. Electronic address: cmp_26@yahoo.com.mx.
• Eur. J. Intern. Med. 2022 Jun 1; 100: 102-109.

BackgroundCoronary artery disease (CAD) assessed by coronary computed tomography (CT) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been investigated in several studies, but with conflicting results. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was synthesize the evidence on this topic.MethodsThe relevant literature was identified and evaluated from inception until January 2021 in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane library. Studies reporting coronary artery calcification (CAC), and its prevalence and extent using the coronary calcium score (CCS) were included. Data extracted from eligible studies were used to calculate effect estimates (ESs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) and weighted mean differences (WMD) with 95%CI.ResultsTwenty-four studies were eligible for inclusion. For the CAC prevalence, 11 studies were included (918 SLE patients and 3952 controls) and the pooled prevalence for the random effect was 29.8% (95%CI 25.7-32.9%) for SLE patients and 11.8% (95%CI 16.2-20.4%) in controls (RR 2.22, 95%CI 1.42 to 3.48; p= 0.0005) and no significant increase in the WMD for CCS (MD= 0.32, 95%CI -5.55 to 6.20, p= 0.91) compared with controls in seven studies. Greater organ damage and glucocorticoid use has been associated with a higher CCS. According to two studies, the coronary CT angiography calcified and non-calcified plaque burden were increased in SLE patients compared with controls.ConclusionsIn SLE, asymptomatic CAD by CAC is more prevalent and there is more multivessel disease compared with controls without lupus. However, the extent of CAC was not increased in SLE patients.Systematic Review RegistrationPROSPERO CRD42021228710.Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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