Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD), are at increased risk for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure (HF), a recent study found. Researchers identified 736 patients diagnosed with IBD in Olmsted County, MN, from 1980 through 2010. They were matched 1:2 to randomly selected individuals without IBD (controls, n=1,472). Primary outcomes were AMI and HF. Among the findings:

• After adjustment for traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, IBD associated independently with increased risk of AMI (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.82) and HF (aHR, 2.03).
• The relative risk of AMI was significantly increased in patients with CD (aHR vs controls, 2.89) or ulcerative colitis (UC) (aHR vs controls, 2.70).
• The relative risk of HF was significantly increased among patients with UC (aHR, 2.06), but not CD.
• The relative risk of both AMI and HF was increased among users of systemic corticosteroids.