Figure 1.

Conceptual model. We hypothesized that psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE) as a result of local and/or systemic inflammation which then triggers prothrombotic pathways. Additional risk factors for VTE are also shown and were adjusted for in our analyses; they may be directly related to the risk for VTE or may act as confounders. In this model, we hypothesize local and/or systemic inflammation is a mediator or on the causal pathway between psoriasis or inflammatory arthritis and VTE. This hypothesis was not tested in this study. NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CKD, chronic kidney disease.