Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) is a vascular disease characterized by medium size artery stenosis that may be associated with aneurysm, occlusion, or dissection. The causes of FMD remain unknown. Symptoms can vary based on the disease location and severity of the affected arteries. We assessed the prevalence of a broad range of comorbidities in patients with FMD.

A retrospective single centre study of patients aged 18 and over diagnosed with FMD consecutively enrolled in the registry. We conducted descriptive statistics using Stata version 18.

The study included a total of 70 patients with a mean age of 51.4 ± 11.44, and 68.6%(n=48) were female. Over 50% (n=39) reported hypertension, 40% (n=28) hypercholesterolemia, 30% (n=21) were smokers, and the mean BMI was 24.8 ± 4.2 kg/m. Most affected arteries were coronary (55.7.%), renal (45.7%), cerebral (37.1%), and visceral (30%). Of these, 52.8% involved ≥2 arterial beds involved. The presence of FMD-related aneurysms, dissections and tortuosity was 38.6%, 61.4% and 10%, respectively. Most reported comorbidities were vascular (67.1%), cardiac (50%), gastrointestinal (30%), neurologic (28.6%), hepatic (28.6%), and ophthalmological disease (21.4%). Other less frequent comorbidities included rheumatic diseases (7.1%), hypothyroidism (5.7%), psychiatric disorders (4.3%), and lung diseases (2.8%). Men were more likely to present with neurological symptoms compared to their female counterparts (50.0% vs 28.2%; p < 0.05). Patients with dissection were more likely to be male and older (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in other clinical parameters between males and females. Regarding medication use, about 40% of the patients were taking antiplatelets and antihypertensives, 31.4% were on statins, 20% on anticoagulation, and 10% on psychotropic drugs.

Our findings showed a high prevalence of polyvascular disease, high burden of comorbidities and coronary involvement in addition to dissections and aneurysms, associated with FMD. Future studies based on larger population and longer follow-up are needed.