Impact of pericarditis on cardiovascular complications and healthcare utilization in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a National Inpatient Sample study

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which affects over 2.3 million people in the USA, involves chronic gut inflammation and can lead to cardiovascular complications, including pericarditis. Whether pericarditis in IBD patients is caused by medication, or by the disease itself, remains unclear. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of pericarditis in IBD and its impact on cardiac complications, outcomes and resource utilization.

Methods: NIS data were obtained for IBD patients from 2016-2020. Outcomes were assessed using multivariate logistic regression, adjusting for demographics, hospital characteristics, comorbidities, and IBD etiology.

Results: In our study of 1.52 million IBD patients, 0.6% had pericarditis, of whom a majority were women (54.1%) and white (76.3%), over 65 years old (43.1%), enrolled in Medicare (51.7%), and living in urban areas (96.3%). Adjusting for confounding factors, IBD patients with pericarditis had higher odds of cardiac arrest (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.90-3.91), cardiogenic shock (aOR 6.42, 95%CI 4.77-8.64), and ventricular arrhythmia (aOR 2.13, 95%CI 1.63-2.78 (P<0.001 for all).

Conclusions: Our study found that pericarditis, though rare at 0.6%, significantly impacts cardiovascular health and healthcare utilization in IBD patients, with higher prevalence of pericarditis in older individuals, females, and those with comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension or chronic kidney disease highlighting the need for further research to enhance therapeutic approaches and patient care.