The linkage of Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) to the national registry of acute coronary syndromes (the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project, MINAP), Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) available through CALIBER (Cardiovascular disease research using linked bespoke studies and electronic records), offers an opportunity to investigate the association between autoimmune disorders and the initial presentation of non-fatal and fatal specific cardiovascular phenotypes. The use of a systematic approach to investigate whether a range of commonly diagnosed autoimmune disorders are independent risk factors for several specific and well defined arterial and venous diseases will help to improve the investigators understanding of the role of autoimmune disorders in development of specific types of CVD in both men and women and in different age groups. It will also provide useful information to improve existing cardiovascular risk prediction methods that are used in clinical practice for patient management.
