Excess Cardiovascular Event Rate Seen in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

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Excess Cardiovascular Event Rate Seen in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jan 09 - Patients with rheumatoid arthritis experience

more cardiovascular events than other patients, independent of the usual

cardiovascular risk factors, according to a report in the December 2001 issue of

Arthritis and Rheumatism.

In the first study of cardiovascular risk factors in rheumatoid arthritis that

focuses on both fatal and nonfatal events, Dr. Inmaculada del Rincon and

colleagues, from University of Texas Health Science Center at San ,

Texas, compared the incidence of cardiovascular events in persons with and

without rheumatoid arthritis after adjusting for traditional risk factors.

Among 236 rheumatoid arthritis patients in the ORALE (Outcome of Rheumatoid

Arthritis Longitudinal Evaluation) study, the authors report, the incidence of

cardiovascular events was 5.9 events overall per 100 person-years and 5.2 new

events per 100 person-years.

In contrast, the report indicates, 4635 individuals in the San Heart

Study (SAHS) experienced an overall rate of 0.75 events per 100 person-years and

0.59 new events per 100 person-years.

After adjustment for age and gender, the cardiovascular event incidence rate

ratio was almost 4 times higher in the RA group than in the SAHS group, the

researchers note.

Multivariate analysis that accounted for age, sex, diabetes, cigarette smoking,

systolic blood pressure, and body-mass index confirmed that the incidence of

cardiovascular events in the RA patients was more than triple that in the

population-based SAHS group.

" Even though we found that the risk of cardiovascular events is independent of

traditional cardiovascular risk factors, it is still important to implement risk

modification measures, " Dr. del Rincon told Reuters Health. " Further research is

needed in determining the factors associated with cardiovascular risk in

rheumatoid arthritis patients so that meaningful recommendations can be made. If

inflammation is found to play a major role in atherosclerosis, this would extend

the current indications for the aggressive suppression of the inflammation in

these patients. "

Arthritis Rheum 2001;44:2707-2710, 2737-2745.