RESEARCH - Increased incidence of cardiovascular disease in patients with RA

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Ann Rheum Dis. 2004 Aug;63(8):952-5. Epub 2004 Mar 29.

Increased incidence of cardiovascular disease in patients with

rheumatoid arthritis: results from a community based study.

Turesson C, Jarenros A, sson L.

Department of Rheumatology, Malmo University Hospital, Malmo, Sweden.

turesson.carl@...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the first-ever incidence of acute myocardial

infarction and stroke in a community based RA cohort compared with the

general population. METHODS: The RA cohort consisted of all patients in

a local RA register in Malmo, Sweden (n = 1022). The patients were

recruited from private and hospital based rheumatology practices, and

made up the absolute majority of patients with RA in the city. The

general population of Malmo, aged 16 and above, served as controls. From

the Swedish National Hospital Discharge Register and the national

Swedish Causes of Death Register, information about all first-ever

myocardial infarctions and strokes in Malmo residents between July 1997

and December 1999 was retrieved. The age and sex adjusted standardised

morbidity ratio (SMR) of the two cohorts was calculated. RESULTS: Fifty

four patients with RA had first-ever myocardial infarctions or stroke

during the study period, compared with 3862 subjects in the general

population. The age and sex adjusted SMR was 161 (95% confidence

interval (CI) 121 to 210). The first-ever incidence of cardiovascular

disease was increased among female and male patients when studied

separately. The increase of cardiovascular events in the RA cohort was

mainly due to an excess of myocardial infarctions (n = 36; SMR = 176

(95% CI 123 to 244).

CONCLUSION: Patients with RA in Malmo had an increased first-ever

incidence of myocardial infarction or stroke compared with the general

population. This confirms that cardiovascular comorbidity is of major

importance in RA.

PMID: 15051620

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstra\

ct & list_uids=15051620 & itool=iconabstr

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