Risk of cardiovascular disease associated with long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in ankylosing spondylitis.

This article investigates the cardiovascular disease risk associated with long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Database. The study found that while AS patients had a higher overall incidence of cardiovascular disease compared to matched controls without AS, long-term NSAID use (defined as >365 cumulative defined daily doses) did not increase cardiovascular risk in AS patients, unlike in the non-AS population where it was associated with a significantly higher risk. Independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease in AS included older age, lower socioeconomic status, current smoking, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. These findings suggest that prolonged NSAID treatment in AS patients may not carry the same cardiovascular risks observed in the general population, potentially due to the anti-inflammatory effects of NSAIDs mitigating cardiovascular harm in this group.