Inflammatory bowel disease associated with a slightly increased risk of heart failure

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with a slightly increased risk of heart failure up to 20 years after diagnosis, according to a comprehensive registry study from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in European Heart Journal.

Researchers analyzed the risk of heart failure in more than 80,000 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, ie Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis or unclassified IBD, compared with 400,000 people from the general population, as part of the ESPRESSO study.

The results show that people with IBD have a 19% increased risk of developing heart failure up to 20 years after diagnosis. This corresponds to one extra case of heart failure per 130 patients with IBD over these 20 years, and the increased risk was observed regardless of the type of IBD. The highest risk of heart failure was seen in older patients, those with less education, and those with pre-existing cardiovascular disease at the time of IBD diagnosis.

Contribute to new guidelines

“Both healthcare providers and patients should be aware of this increased risk, and it is important that cardiovascular health is properly monitored,” says first study author Jiangwei Sun, a researcher at Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. “We hope the results will raise awareness among healthcare workers about the increased risk of heart failure in people with IBD and contribute to new guidelines for the management of cardiovascular disease in patients with IBD.”

The researchers also analyzed the risk of heart failure in patients with IBD compared with their siblings without IBD. In these sibling analyses, the increase in risk was slightly lower, 10%, suggesting that genetic and early environmental factors shared in families may play a role.

We don’t know if there is a causal relationship, but we will continue to investigate genetic factors and the role of IBD medications and disease activity in heart failure risk.”

Professor Jonas F. Ludvigsson, senior author of the study from the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet

The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers from Örebro University, Gothenburg University and Uppsala University in Sweden.