High Incidence Of Cardiovascular Events In Rheumatoid Arthritis Independent Of Traditional Risk Factors

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High Incidence Of Cardiovascular Events In Rheumatoid Arthritis Independent Of

Traditional Risk Factors

A DGReview of : " High incidence of cardiovascular events in a rheumatoid

arthritis cohort not explained by traditional cardiac risk factors "

Arthritis & Rheumatism

12/24/2001

By

Incidence of cardiovascular events is high in patients with rheumatoid

arthritis, and the increased incidence is not explained by traditional

cardiovascular risk factors.

These findings suggest that additional mechanisms are involved in cardiovascular

disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients, according to investigators from the

University of Texas Health Science Center at San , Texas, United States.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients were assessed for one-year occurrence of

cardiovascular-related hospitalizations or cardiovascular-related deaths.

Results were compared with the number of cardiovascular events that occurred

over an eight-year period among 25-65 year-old participants in an

epidemiological study of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.

A total of 234 rheumatoid arthritis patients were observed for 252

patient-years. Fifteen cardiovascular events occurred during this time. Seven of

these occurred in patients aged 25-65 years, allowing comparison with the

epidemiological study participants and resulting in an incidence of 3.43 per 100

patient-years. Incidence of cardiovascular events in the control study

population was 0.59 per 100 person-years.

Age- and sex-adjusted incidence rate ratio for cardiovascular events associated

with rheumatoid arthritis was 3.96.

Poisson regression was used to adjust for traditional cardiovascular risk

factors including age, sex, smoking status, diabetes mellitus,

hypercholesterolemia, systolic blood pressure and body mass index. These

adjustments lowered the incidence rate ratio only slightly to 3.17.

Doctors who care for rheumatoid arthritis patients should be aware of this risk,

the investigator conclude, and should " implement appropriate diagnostic and

therapeutic measures. "

This research was funded by the Texas Affiliate of the American Heart

Association, the Arthritis Foundation and the National Institute of Health.

Arthritis Rheum 2001; 44(12): 2737-2745