Title:Cardiovascular Manifestations in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Volume: 20
Issue: 1
Author(s): Anish Kumar Reddy Meda, Fremita Chelsea Fredrick*, Urvashi Rathod, Priyanshi Shah and Rohit Jain
Affiliation:
- Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, Curacao
Keywords:
Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, endotoxemia, pericarditis, thromboembolism.
Abstract:
Inflammatory bowel disease is a group of long-term systemic inflammatory disorders
affecting the gastrointestinal tract, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, which may be
associated with an increased risk of developing extraintestinal manifestations, including cardiovascular
disease, thereby decreasing the quality of life. Pathophysiological changes associated
with inflammatory bowel disease include alterations of the microbiome, endotoxemia, and
changes to glucose and lipid metabolism. Inflammatory bowel disease patients have higher carotid
intima-media thickness, lower flow-mediated dilatation, and increased carotid-femoral pulse
wave velocity, which are markers of elevated cardiovascular risk. In addition, inflammatory
bowel disease patients are at an increased risk for developing venous and arterial thrombotic
events due to a hypercoagulable state caused by thrombocytosis and coagulation system activation.
To reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, lifestyle modifications, such as
smoking cessation, dietary changes, and increased physical activity alongside management with
appropriate medication, should be considered. This paper examines how inflammatory bowel
disease can influence the risk of cardiovascular complications and the involvement of drug
therapy.
Methods: PubMed was searched using keywords, such as inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's
disease, ulcerative colitis, cardiovascular disease, pericarditis, thromboembolism, and many
more. Relevant literature up to March 2023 has been examined and summarized, which consisted
of data from various clinical trials, meta-analyses, retrospective/prospective cohort studies, and
current guidelines.
