Cytomegalovirus infection and relative risk of cardiovascular disease (ischemic heart disease,stroke,and cardiovascular death): A meta-analysis of prospective studies up to 2016

Background-several studies have suggested that cytomegalovirus infection is likely associated with an increased relative risk of cardiovascular disease (cvd); however,the results are inconsistent. we aimed to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of community-based prospective studies assessing the association between cytomegalovirus infection and relative risk of cvd. methods and results-we searched medline and embase to retrieve prospective studies that reported risk estimates of the association between cytomegalovirus infection and relative risk of cvd. the search yielded 10 articles including a total of 34 564 participants and 4789 cvd patients. overall,exposure to cytomegalovirus infection was associated with a 22% (relative risk: 1.22,95% ci: 1.07-1.38,p=0.002) increased relative risk of future cvd. we estimated that 13.4% of cvd incidence could be attributable to cytomegalovirus infection. conclusions-in conclusion,cytomegalovirus infection is associated with a significantly increased relative risk of cvd. © 2017 the authors.