Retrospective Evaluation of Risk Factors for Ischemic Heart Disease in Patients with Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Some have proposed that the cardiovascular risk among individuals with DH differs from that of the general population. This study aimed to analyze cardiovascular risk factors in DH patients and compare them to a matched control group without DH or celiac disease. Methods: This was a retrospective hospital-based study involving patients diagnosed with DH, both clinically and histopathologically, along with age- and sex-matched control subjects without the disease. The presence of ischemic heart disease, and the risk factors including laboratory values, treatment and comorbidity histories were evaluated comparatively. (SPSS version 28.0). Results: Thirty-five patients with DH and 49 controls were included. No significant difference was found between the DH patients and controls regarding the prevalence of ischemic heart disease (22.9% vs. 14.3%, p:0.312). Diabetes mellitus was significantly higher and HDL cholesterol levels were significantly lower in the DH group (respectively, p: 0.044 and p: 0.018). Celiac autoantibodies, the laboratory values, or treatments did not show any significant correlation with heart disease in DH. Conclusion: This study revealed that HDL cholesterol were significantly lower in DH patients compared to general population. More research is needed to optimize the cardiovascular health of DH patients.