A coordinated care program may help physicians mitigate risk factors for cardiovascular disease in patients with psoriatic disease, according to a press release from Penn Medicine. Despite being at an increased risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, major adverse cardiovascular events, and cardiovascular mortality, patients with psoriatic disease are often not adequately screened for risk factors of cardiovascular disease.
In a recent study published by Song et al in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, researchers enrolled 80 patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis to participate in a coordinated care program involving regular blood tests to monitor lipid and hemoglobin A1C levels, at-home blood pressure measurements, virtual visits with care coordinators, and personalized diet and exercise regimens. After 1 year, 28.6% (n = 23) of the patients were at a heightened risk of developing cardiovascular disease, though they were previously undiagnosed with any cardiac conditions. The researchers assigned the high-risk patients to receive individualized care based on recommendations from the American Heart Association and connected them with specialists who could prescribe them the necessary treatments. The new findings demonstrated the potential utility of the coordinated care program in preventing cardiovascular disease and negative outcomes in this patient population. The researchers emphasized that collaboration between dermatologists, rheumatologists, and cardiologists may also help better educate patients with psoriatic disease on the warning signs of cardiovascular disease and the heart-healthy behaviors they can engage in to manage their risks. “This program has the potential to ensure that we’re empowering patients and clinicians to better identify cardiovascular risk factors in order to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and premature mortality in patients with psoriatic disease who are predisposed to poor cardiovascular health,” concluded senior study author Joel Gelfand, MD, the James J. Leyden, MD, Endowed Professor in Clinical Investigation in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania.
The findings from the pilot program also led to the launch a bigger trial of this program, which will involve over 500 patients at over 10 centers in the United States.