TY - JOUR T1 - Beneficial Cardiovascular Effects of Low-dose Glucocorticoid Therapy in Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 1758 LP - 1760 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.120192 VL - 39 IS - 8 AU - ELENA BARTOLONI AU - ALESSIA ALUNNO AU - GIANLUCA SANTOBONI AU - ROBERTO GERLI Y1 - 2012/08/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/39/8/1758.2.abstract N2 - To the Editor:We read with great interest the report by Mazzantini, et al1. That retrospective analysis of a large cohort of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) demonstrated that duration or cumulative dose of longterm low-dose glucocorticoid (GC) therapy was significantly associated with higher risk of arterial hypertension and acute myocardial infarction. However, in a multivariate analysis adjusted for traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, arterial hypertension was confirmed as the only adverse effect significantly associated with treatment duration.It is thought that longterm GC treatment, especially at high dose, may indirectly increase the risk of CV disease through its well-recognized effect on traditional CV risk factors, including arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, and obesity2. As summarized in Table 1, GC have been associated with higher incidence of subclinical atherosclerosis, and their detrimental effects on the CV system seem to occur at a preclinical phase. Although results are not uniform, duration of treatment exposure and higher cumulative … Address correspondence to Dr. Gerli; E-mail: gerlir{at}unipg.it ER -