Prevalence and associated factors of resting electrocardiogram abnormalities among systemic lupus erythematosus patients without cardiovascular disease

Hanan Al Rayes, Paula J. Harvey, Dafna D. Gladman, Jiandong Su, Arthy Sabapathy, Murray B. Urowitz, Zahi Touma

Electrocardiogram (ECG) cardiovascular disease (CVD) abnormalities (ECG-CVD) are predictive of subsequent CVD events in the general population. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients are vulnerable to CVD. We aimed to determine the prevalence of ECG-CVD in SLE patients and to examine the risk factors associated with ECG-CVD. A 12-lead resting supine ECG was performed on consecutive adult patients attending the clinic. One cardiologist interpreted the ECGs. ECG-CVD were defined as the presence of one or more of the following 4 elements (ECG-4): ST-segment and/or T-wave abnormalities, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), left axis deviation (LAD), left bundle branch block (LBBB) and right bundle branch block (RBBB). ECG-5 included the same elements as ECG-4 and the Q-wave. Repeated measurement data were created and the associations between ECG-4/ECG-5 and demographics were evaluated with univariate and multivariate Cox regression models. Of 487 SLE patients, 104 (21.4%) and 118 (24.2%) patients had one or more of the ECG-4 and ECG-5 elements, respectively. A higher prevalence of ECG-CVD was found in patients with a longer SLE disease duration, and the burden of ECG-CVD elements increased with age. Increased age, active SLE disease, and damage were associated with ECG4 and ECG-5, while treatment of hyperlipidemia was protective. A high prevalence of ECG-4 (21.4%) and ECG-5 (24.2%) was found in this SLE cohort. Controlling SLE disease activity is important since it was associated with ECG-4 and ECG-5. Early identification of ECG-4 and ECG-5 in SLE patients might allow for better stratification and risk management.