Cardiovascular risk among Giant cells arteritis patients

Alexis F Guedon; Olivier Espitia; Maxime Beydon; Etienne Ghrenassia; Tristan Mirault; Emmanuel Messas; Florence Tubach; Raphaèle Seror; Franck Boccara; Ariel Cohen; Ruth Frikke-Schmidt; Børge Grønne Nordestgaard; Azeddine Dellal; Olivier Fain; Arsène Mekinian; Fabrice Carrat

doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwag034

Cardiovascular risk among Giant cells arteritis patients

Alexis F Guedon, Olivier Espitia, Maxime Beydon, Etienne Ghrenassia, Tristan Mirault, Emmanuel Messas, Florence Tubach, Raphaèle Seror, Franck Boccara, Ariel Cohen, Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, Børge Grønne Nordestgaard, Azeddine Dellal, Olivier Fain, Arsène Mekinian, Fabrice Carrat

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a chronic large-vessel vasculitis affecting older adults, associated with significant cardiovascular (CV) complications. Understanding CV risk drivers among GCA, including classical CV risk factors and inflammation, is essential for improved patient management. We (i) assessed the association between GCA and risks of cardiovascular events, including aortic events, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), peripheral artery disease (PAD) events, and visceral artery events (ii) assessed the impact of traditional CV risk factors and GCA disease activity on these outcomes.

METHODS: Using the French National Health Data System (SNDS), we included 23,193 patients aged ≥50 years diagnosed with incident GCA from 2012-2022. Patients were matched with a general population cohort (92,772 individuals) and a hospitalized cohort (92,772 individuals) using propensity score matching based on CV comorbidities. Primary outcomes were first incidence of aortic events, MACE, PAD events, and visceral artery events.

RESULTS: Patients with GCA faced an increased risk of all CV outcomes compared with the general population cohort: aortic events (HR: 5.33; 95%CI, 4.50-6.32), MACE (HR: 2.15; 95% CI, 2.04-2.26), PAD events (HR: 2.72; 95%CI, 2.47-2.99), and visceral artery events (HR: 3.04; 95%CI, 2.33-3.97).When compared with the hospitalized cohort, GCA patients had increased risk of all outcomes except for MACE risk which did not significantly differ (HR: 1.01; 95%CI, 0.96-1.06). GCA disease activity was associated with increased MACE (HR: 1.98; 95%CI, 1.63-2.42).

CONCLUSIONS: GCA significantly increases risks of vascular complications, highlighting the importance of cardiovascular risk management and inflammation control strategies.

Original language	English
Journal	European Journal of Preventive Cardiology
ISSN	2047-4873
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwag034
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 14 Jan 2026

Bibliographical note

© The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact [email protected].

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Guedon, A. F., Espitia, O., Beydon, M., Ghrenassia, E., Mirault, T., Messas, E., Tubach, F., Seror, R., Boccara, F., Cohen, A., Frikke-Schmidt, R., Nordestgaard, B. G., Dellal, A., Fain, O., Mekinian, A., & Carrat, F. (2026). Cardiovascular risk among Giant cells arteritis patients. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwag034

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title = "Cardiovascular risk among Giant cells arteritis patients",

abstract = "OBJECTIVES: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a chronic large-vessel vasculitis affecting older adults, associated with significant cardiovascular (CV) complications. Understanding CV risk drivers among GCA, including classical CV risk factors and inflammation, is essential for improved patient management. We (i) assessed the association between GCA and risks of cardiovascular events, including aortic events, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), peripheral artery disease (PAD) events, and visceral artery events (ii) assessed the impact of traditional CV risk factors and GCA disease activity on these outcomes.METHODS: Using the French National Health Data System (SNDS), we included 23,193 patients aged ≥50 years diagnosed with incident GCA from 2012-2022. Patients were matched with a general population cohort (92,772 individuals) and a hospitalized cohort (92,772 individuals) using propensity score matching based on CV comorbidities. Primary outcomes were first incidence of aortic events, MACE, PAD events, and visceral artery events.RESULTS: Patients with GCA faced an increased risk of all CV outcomes compared with the general population cohort: aortic events (HR: 5.33; 95%CI, 4.50-6.32), MACE (HR: 2.15; 95% CI, 2.04-2.26), PAD events (HR: 2.72; 95%CI, 2.47-2.99), and visceral artery events (HR: 3.04; 95%CI, 2.33-3.97).When compared with the hospitalized cohort, GCA patients had increased risk of all outcomes except for MACE risk which did not significantly differ (HR: 1.01; 95%CI, 0.96-1.06). GCA disease activity was associated with increased MACE (HR: 1.98; 95%CI, 1.63-2.42).CONCLUSIONS: GCA significantly increases risks of vascular complications, highlighting the importance of cardiovascular risk management and inflammation control strategies.",

author = "Guedon, {Alexis F} and Olivier Espitia and Maxime Beydon and Etienne Ghrenassia and Tristan Mirault and Emmanuel Messas and Florence Tubach and Rapha{\`e}le Seror and Franck Boccara and Ariel Cohen and Ruth Frikke-Schmidt and Nordestgaard, {B{\o}rge Gr{\o}nne} and Azeddine Dellal and Olivier Fain and Ars{\`e}ne Mekinian and Fabrice Carrat",

note = "{\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact [email protected].",

year = "2026",

month = jan,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1093/eurjpc/zwag034",

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issn = "2047-4873",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Cardiovascular risk among Giant cells arteritis patients

AU - Guedon, Alexis F

AU - Espitia, Olivier

AU - Beydon, Maxime

AU - Ghrenassia, Etienne

AU - Mirault, Tristan

AU - Messas, Emmanuel

AU - Tubach, Florence

AU - Seror, Raphaèle

AU - Boccara, Franck

AU - Cohen, Ariel

AU - Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth

AU - Nordestgaard, Børge Grønne

AU - Dellal, Azeddine

AU - Fain, Olivier

AU - Mekinian, Arsène

AU - Carrat, Fabrice

N1 - © The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact [email protected].

PY - 2026/1/14

Y1 - 2026/1/14

N2 - OBJECTIVES: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a chronic large-vessel vasculitis affecting older adults, associated with significant cardiovascular (CV) complications. Understanding CV risk drivers among GCA, including classical CV risk factors and inflammation, is essential for improved patient management. We (i) assessed the association between GCA and risks of cardiovascular events, including aortic events, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), peripheral artery disease (PAD) events, and visceral artery events (ii) assessed the impact of traditional CV risk factors and GCA disease activity on these outcomes.METHODS: Using the French National Health Data System (SNDS), we included 23,193 patients aged ≥50 years diagnosed with incident GCA from 2012-2022. Patients were matched with a general population cohort (92,772 individuals) and a hospitalized cohort (92,772 individuals) using propensity score matching based on CV comorbidities. Primary outcomes were first incidence of aortic events, MACE, PAD events, and visceral artery events.RESULTS: Patients with GCA faced an increased risk of all CV outcomes compared with the general population cohort: aortic events (HR: 5.33; 95%CI, 4.50-6.32), MACE (HR: 2.15; 95% CI, 2.04-2.26), PAD events (HR: 2.72; 95%CI, 2.47-2.99), and visceral artery events (HR: 3.04; 95%CI, 2.33-3.97).When compared with the hospitalized cohort, GCA patients had increased risk of all outcomes except for MACE risk which did not significantly differ (HR: 1.01; 95%CI, 0.96-1.06). GCA disease activity was associated with increased MACE (HR: 1.98; 95%CI, 1.63-2.42).CONCLUSIONS: GCA significantly increases risks of vascular complications, highlighting the importance of cardiovascular risk management and inflammation control strategies.

AB - OBJECTIVES: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a chronic large-vessel vasculitis affecting older adults, associated with significant cardiovascular (CV) complications. Understanding CV risk drivers among GCA, including classical CV risk factors and inflammation, is essential for improved patient management. We (i) assessed the association between GCA and risks of cardiovascular events, including aortic events, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), peripheral artery disease (PAD) events, and visceral artery events (ii) assessed the impact of traditional CV risk factors and GCA disease activity on these outcomes.METHODS: Using the French National Health Data System (SNDS), we included 23,193 patients aged ≥50 years diagnosed with incident GCA from 2012-2022. Patients were matched with a general population cohort (92,772 individuals) and a hospitalized cohort (92,772 individuals) using propensity score matching based on CV comorbidities. Primary outcomes were first incidence of aortic events, MACE, PAD events, and visceral artery events.RESULTS: Patients with GCA faced an increased risk of all CV outcomes compared with the general population cohort: aortic events (HR: 5.33; 95%CI, 4.50-6.32), MACE (HR: 2.15; 95% CI, 2.04-2.26), PAD events (HR: 2.72; 95%CI, 2.47-2.99), and visceral artery events (HR: 3.04; 95%CI, 2.33-3.97).When compared with the hospitalized cohort, GCA patients had increased risk of all outcomes except for MACE risk which did not significantly differ (HR: 1.01; 95%CI, 0.96-1.06). GCA disease activity was associated with increased MACE (HR: 1.98; 95%CI, 1.63-2.42).CONCLUSIONS: GCA significantly increases risks of vascular complications, highlighting the importance of cardiovascular risk management and inflammation control strategies.

U2 - 10.1093/eurjpc/zwag034

DO - 10.1093/eurjpc/zwag034

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 41537566

SN - 2047-4873

JO - European Journal of Preventive Cardiology

JF - European Journal of Preventive Cardiology

ER -