Carotid atherosclerosis in the first five years since rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis: a cross sectional study.
Adv Rheumatol
; 63(1): 36, 2023 07 28.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37507812
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Systemic inflammation, documented before rheumatoid arthritis (RA) diagnosis, is associated with accelerated atherosclerosis. We aimed to compare the prevalence of carotid plaque (CP) in RA patients in the first five years since diagnosis and healthy controls, and to determine disease characteristics associated with the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in RA patients.METHODS:
This was a cross-sectional study. We recruited 60 RA patients in the first five years since diagnosis and 60 matched healthy controls. Carotid ultrasound was performed to detect the presence of CP and measure carotid-intima media thickness (cIMT). Subclinical atherosclerosis was considered as the presence of CP and/or increased cIMT. Distribution was evaluated with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Comparisons were made with Chi-square or Fisher's exact test for qualitative variables and Student's t or Mann-Whitney's U test for quantitative variables. A p-value < 0.05 was considered significant.RESULTS:
There were no differences in the demographic characteristics between RA patients and controls. The mean disease duration was 2.66 ± 1.39 years. A higher prevalence of CP (30.0% vs. 11.7%, p = 0.013), bilateral CP (18.3% vs. 3.3%, p = 0.008), increased cIMT (30.0% vs. 6.7%, p = 0.001), and subclinical atherosclerosis (53.3% vs. 18.3%, p = < 0.001) was found in RA patients. RA patients with subclinical atherosclerosis were older (56.70 years vs. 50.00 years, p = 0.002), presented a higher prevalence of dyslipidemia (53.1% vs. 14.3%, p = 0.002), and higher prevalence of classification in moderate-high disease activity category measured by DAS28-CRP (68.8% vs. 35.7%, p = 0.010). The latter variable persisted independently associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in the binary logistic regression (OR 6.11, 95% CI 1.51-24.70, p = 0.011).CONCLUSIONS:
In the first five years since diagnosis, higher prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis, including CP was found in RA patients. Carotid ultrasound should be considered part of the systematic CVR evaluation of RA at the time of diagnosis.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Artritis Reumatoide
/
Enfermedades de las Arterias Carótidas
/
Aterosclerosis
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Adv Rheumatol
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
México