OBJECTIVES:

The aim of this study was to explore the possible association between dermatomyositis/polymyositis (DM/PM) and subsequent acute coronary syndrome (ACS) risk.

METHOD:

We used data from the National Health Insurance (NHI) system of Taiwan to address the research topic. The exposure cohort contained 2029 patients with new diagnoses of DM/PM. Each patient was randomly frequency-matched according to sex and age with four participants from the general population who did not have a history of ACS at the index date (control group). Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were conducted to estimate the relationship between DM/PM and subsequent ACS risk.

RESULTS:

Among patients with DM/PM, the overall risk for developing subsequent ACS was significantly higher than that of the control group [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.98, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17-3.35]. Further analysis indicated a higher risk in patients who were male, older, or diagnosed with comorbidities.

CONCLUSIONS:

The findings from this population-based retrospective cohort study suggest that DM/PM is associated with an increased subsequent ACS risk.