Increased risk of venous thromboembolism associated with polymyositis and dermatomyositis: a meta-analysis

• Main Authors: Li Y, Wang P, Li L, Wang F, Liu Y
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2018-01-01
• Series: Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management
• Subjects: Polymyositis; Dermatomyositis; Venous thromboembolism; Deep venous thrombosis; Pulmonary embolism
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/increased-risk-of-venous-thromboembolism-associated-with-polymyositis--peer-reviewed-article-TCRM
• ISSN: 1178-203X

Yanqing Li,1 Peihong Wang,2 Lei Li,3 Fei Wang,4 Yuxiu Liu5 1Department of Pharmacy Intravenous Admixture Services, Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, 2Department of Interventional Oncology, Weifang Tumor Hospital, Weifang, 3Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, 4Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, 5School of Nursing, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, People’s Republic of China Objective: Polymyositis and dermatomyositis (PM/DM) have been implicated in the development of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Previous studies investigating the association between PM/DM and VTE risk had yielded inconsistent findings. The aim of this study was to precisely estimate this association by meta-analysis of all available publications.Methods: Two investigators independently performed a comprehensive literature search in databases of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for eligible studies. The strength for the association was weighed by pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Stratified analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed for further analysis.Results: Six studies including 9,045 patients with PM/DM were analyzed. The pooled OR suggested that inflammatory myositis was associated with increased risk of VTE (OR =4.31, 95% CI: 2.55–7.29, P<0.001). Besides, significantly elevated risk of VTE was related with PM and DM, respectively (for PM: OR =6.87, 95% CI: 4.12–11.46, P<0.001; for DM: OR =11.59, 95% CI: 6.54–20.55, P<0.001). In addition, inflammatory myositis could increase the risk of DVT (OR =4.85, 95% CI: 1.38–17.12, P<0.05) and PE (OR =4.74, 95% CI: 2.18–10.30, P<0.05). Sensitivity analysis did not materially alter the pooled results.Conclusion: Our study shows strong evidence that patients with inflammatory myositis have an increased risk of VTE. Keywords: polymyositis, dermatomyositis, venous thromboembolism, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism