Axial Spondyloarthritis (ax-SpA) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)-specific deaths. We aimed to assess the prevalence of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic dysfunction and valvular heart disease (VHD) by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in ax-SpA patients without history of CVD.

A systematic literature review was performed in PUBMED, Embase, Cochrane Library databases published before April 2020. We included all controlled studies assessing myocardial function and heart valve by TTE in ax-SpA without history of CVD. A meta-analysis was performed with random or fixed effects model estimating mean differences (MD) and odds ratio (OR).

Literature search selected 189 abstracts and 28 articles were included (1471 ax-SpA and 1115 controls). ax-SpA had a statistically slight alteration of LV ejection fraction (MD=0.64%, 95%CI: 0.14–1.14). ax-SpA had more frequently LV diastolic dysfunction (OR=3.43, 95%CI: 1.78–6.59) and an alteration of E/A ratio (MD=0.15, 95%CI: 0.08–0.21), deceleration time (MD=13.07ms, 95%CI: 7.75–18.40), isovolumetric relaxation time (MD=7.90ms, 95%CI: 4.50–11.30), left-ventricular end diastolic (MD=0.57mm, 95%CI: 0.19–0.95) and systolic (MD=0.77mm, 95%CI: 0.36–1.17) diameters. Three studies (15%) used a combination of TTE parameters to diagnose LV diastolic dysfunction. Prevalence of mitral regurgitation and aortic regurgitation were similar in ax-SpA patients and healthy individuals.

ax-SpA have a non-clinically relevant alteration of LV ejection fraction and similar prevalence of VHD compared to healthy individuals. LV diastolic TTE parameters are altered in ax-SpA. However, most studies do not combine set of parameters to recognize diastolic dysfunction. The clinical relevance of diastolic dysfunction observed by TTE remains to be determined in future longitudinal studies.