Psoriasis is an immune-mediated disease that affects up to 3% of the general population. Cardiovascular disease types like coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral vascular disease occur independently in the patient with psoriasis when controlling for confounding factors. Additionally, population-based studies report that cardiovascular disease risk factors like hypertension, obesity, diabetes, smoking, and metabolic syndrome occur with a higher prevalence in the psoriasis patient population. This review article highlights those studies detailing the cardiovascular disease types and risk factors that arise with increased prevalence in patients with psoriasis. Additionally, this article reviews those trials that investigated the disease-specific inflammatory markers (i.e., hyperhomocysteinemia, C-reactive protein, and tumor necrosis factor-α) and comorbid risk factors (i.e., insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome) that might be impacted when systemic therapies are implemented in the patient with psoriasis.
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