Trends in the occurrence of ischaemic heart disease over time in rheumatoid arthritis: 1821 patients from 1972 to 2017.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate trends of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients compared with the general population over time. METHOD: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 1821 RA patients diagnosed from 1972 to 2013. Aggregated counts of the total population of the same county (Hordaland, Norway) and period were used for comparison. Information on AMI and IHD events was obtained from hospital patient administrative systems or cardiovascular registries. We estimated incidence rates and excess of events [standardized event ratio (SER) with 95% confidence interval (CI)] compared with the general population by Poisson regression. RESULTS: There was an average annual decline of 1.6% in age- and gender-adjusted AMI incidence rates from 1972 to 2017 (p < 0.035). The difference in events (excess events) in RA patients compared with the general population declined on average by 1.3% per year for AMI and by 2.3% for IHD from 1972 to 2014. There were no significant excess AMI (SER 1.05, 95% CI 0.82-1.35) or IHD events (SER 1.02, 95% CI 0.89-1.16) for RA patients diagnosed after 1998 compared with the general population. CONCLUSION: Incidence rates and excess events of AMI and IHD in RA patients declined from 1972 to 2017. There were no excess AMI or IHD events in RA patients diagnosed after 1998 compared with the general population.

Major differences in medical and surgical treatment of psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis: a comparison of two historic cohorts.

OBJECTIVES: Substantial changes in the handling of patients with inflammatory arthritis have occurred during the past half century. Polyarticular psoriatic arthritis (PsA) has been treated with the same synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but for PsA there is less documentation regarding their effect. For biologic DMARDs, evidence of effect is more convincing. We have previously investigated the risk of orthopaedic surgery in patients with RA and PsA to see whether the change in treatment over time has improved the long-term outcome of inflammatory arthritis. For RA, patients diagnosed from 1999 onwards had a lower risk of surgery than patients diagnosed in earlier years. For PsA, the risk of surgery did not change similarly. We wished to compare RA patients to PsA patients with regard to medical and surgical treatment. METHOD: We compared a historic cohort of 1010 RA patients diagnosed in 1972-2009 to a historic cohort of 590 PsA patients diagnosed in 1954-2011. RESULTS: PsA patients received significantly less medical treatment both in the first year of disease and during the disease course. Risk of surgery during the disease course was lower for PsA than for RA (20% vs 31%). The risk of surgery in RA patients diagnosed from 1999 onwards was similar to that of PsA patients. CONCLUSIONS: PsA patients received less intensive treatment than RA patients. Their prognosis, regarding orthopaedic surgery, was also less severe. Contrary to RA, the change in treatment did not have beneficial effects regarding the risk of orthopaedic surgery.

Predictors for orthopaedic surgery in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: results from a retrospective cohort study of 1010 patients diagnosed from 1972 to 2009 and followed up until 2015.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate how patient characteristics, time of diagnosis, and treatment affect the need for orthopaedic surgery in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHOD: We reviewed the medical history of 1544 patients diagnosed with RA at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway, from 1972 to 2009, of whom 1010 (mean age 57 years, 69% women) were included in the present study. Relevant orthopaedic procedures were obtained from the Norwegian Arthoplasty Register and the hospital's administrative patient records. In total, 693 procedures (joint synovectomies 22%, arthrodeses 21%, prostheses 41%, and forefoot procedures 12%) were performed in 315 patients. Survival analyses were completed to evaluate the impact of different factors such as age, gender, radiographic changes, and year of diagnosis, on the risk of undergoing surgery. RESULTS: Patients diagnosed in 1972-1985 and 1986-1998 had a relative risk of undergoing surgery of 2.4 and 2.2 (p < 0.001), respectively, compared to patients diagnosed in 1999-2009. Radiographic changes at diagnosis and female gender were also significant risk factors. Anti-rheumatic medication was significantly different in the three time periods. CONCLUSION: Patients with a diagnosis in the early years had a greatly increased risk of having orthopaedic surgery performed. This is probably due to the year of diagnosis being a proxy for the type and intensity of medical treatment.

Reduction in orthopaedic surgery in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a Norwegian register-based study.

OBJECTIVES: The disease course of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has become milder in recent years. In this study we investigated the incidence of orthopaedic surgery in patients with RA. METHOD: From the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register we selected joint replacement procedures conducted during the years 1994-2012 (n = 11 337), and from the Norwegian Patient Register we obtained data on synovectomies (n = 4782) and arthrodeses (n = 6022) during 1997-2012. Using Poisson regression we analysed the time trends in the incidence of procedures performed. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in the incidence of arthroplasty surgery (coefficient of -0.050 per year) and synovectomies (coefficient of -0.10) and a declining trend of arthrodeses in patients with RA in the study periods. The greatest reduction was found in procedures involving the wrist and hand. CONCLUSIONS: We found a decrease in orthopaedic surgery in patients with RA that continued into the biologic era and throughout the study period. The general increasing trend in the use of synthetic and biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) thus coincides with less joint destruction and an improved long-term prognosis of patients with RA.