Cardiovascular risk factors and complications in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus with and without nephritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

IntroductionIt remains unclear how the presence of renal involvement will affect the cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and complications in patients with SLE.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis using PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE and Scopus to identify studies published between 1947 and 2022 that evaluate the CV risk factors and complications in patients with SLE with or without lupus nephritis (LN).Results58 studies were evaluated, with 22 two-arm studies (n=8675) included in two-arm meta-analysis and 45 studies (n=385 315) included in proportional meta-analysis. Patients with SLE with LN showed significantly higher risk of hypertension (HT) (OR=4.93, 95% CI=3.17 to 7.65, p