Short-Term Cardiovascular Complications in Dermatology Patients Receiving JAK-STAT Inhibitors

JAMA Dermatology
Open Access

Clinical Summary

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What was studied

PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis of 45 placebo-controlled randomized trials of systemic JAK–STAT/TYK2 inhibitors for dermatologic diseases (atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, alopecia areata, vitiligo, lichen planus, hidradenitis suppurativa), searched to June 2023. In total, 12,996 received active therapy and 4,925 received placebo, with a median treatment duration of 16 weeks.

Key findings

No increase was found in MACE (RR 0.47, 95% CI 0.28-0.80; I2=0%) or VTE (RR 0.46, 95% CI 0.26-0.80; I2=0%) with JAK-STAT inhibitors versus placebo; serious adverse events (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.72-1.20; I2=12.38%) and discontinuations (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.76-1.19; I2=23.55%) were also similar.

Study limitations

Follow-up was short (median 16 weeks), limiting detection of rare or delayed events; several included trials had ‘some concerns’ for risk of bias; and event pooling used crude counts.

Clinical implications

For dermatology patients, short-term systemic JAK/TYK2 inhibitor use did not increase MACE or VTE versus placebo over a median 16 weeks. This supports counseling that short courses appear cardiovascularly safe in the near term, while maintaining routine risk assessment and longer-term vigilance.