Coronary Artery Disease Common in Patients With Cirrhosis

FRIDAY, Dec. 20, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Coronary artery disease (CAD) is common in patients with cirrhosis, but cirrhosis itself is not significantly associated with an increased CAD risk, according to a review published online Nov. 21 in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology.

Chunru Gu, from the Teaching Hospital of the China Medical University in Shenyang, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine CAD incidence and prevalence in patients with and without liver cirrhosis.

Based on 51 included studies, the researchers found that the pooled incidences of CAD, acute coronary syndromes, and myocardial infarction (MI) were 2.28, 2.02, and 1.80 percent, respectively. There was no significant association between liver cirrhosis and CAD incidence or MI. The pooled prevalence rates of CAD, acute coronary syndromes, and MI were 18.87, 12.54, and 6.12 percent, respectively. There was no significant association between liver cirrhosis and CAD prevalence or MI. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatitis C virus, advanced age, male sex, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking history, and family history of CAD were significantly associated with CAD in patients with cirrhosis.

“Large-scale prospective studies are needed to clarify how to screen for and prevent CAD in the high-risk population with liver cirrhosis,” the authors write.

One author reported being an editorial board member of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology.

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