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Exposure to acute flares of rheumatoid arthritis significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, according to findings from a population-based cohort study conducted by Dr. Elena Myasoedova and her associates.
Each exposure to a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) flare lasting 6 weeks increased the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by about 7% in the study of 525 patients aged 30 years or older who were identified during 1988-2007 as meeting 1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA. CVD risk for RA patients in remission was similar to a random sample of patients without RA with similar age and sex. Patients who had increased cumulative moving averages in daily calculations of two methods for estimating RA severity, the RA medical Records-Based Index of Severity (RARBIS) and Claims-Based Index of RA Severity (CIRAS), had significantly higher risk of CVD (hazard ratios, 1.16 and 1.38, respectively). For each year spent in the highest CIRAS tertile, CVD risk rose by 18% when compared with time in the lowest tertile, the investigators found.
“These findings imply important cardiovascular benefits associated with improved flare management and tight inflammation control in RA,” the researchers concluded.
Read the full study published Jan. 30 in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-206411).
Exposure to acute flares of rheumatoid arthritis significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, according to findings from a population-based cohort study conducted by Dr. Elena Myasoedova and her associates.
Each exposure to a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) flare lasting 6 weeks increased the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by about 7% in the study of 525 patients aged 30 years or older who were identified during 1988-2007 as meeting 1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA. CVD risk for RA patients in remission was similar to a random sample of patients without RA with similar age and sex. Patients who had increased cumulative moving averages in daily calculations of two methods for estimating RA severity, the RA medical Records-Based Index of Severity (RARBIS) and Claims-Based Index of RA Severity (CIRAS), had significantly higher risk of CVD (hazard ratios, 1.16 and 1.38, respectively). For each year spent in the highest CIRAS tertile, CVD risk rose by 18% when compared with time in the lowest tertile, the investigators found.
“These findings imply important cardiovascular benefits associated with improved flare management and tight inflammation control in RA,” the researchers concluded.
Read the full study published Jan. 30 in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-206411).
Exposure to acute flares of rheumatoid arthritis significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, according to findings from a population-based cohort study conducted by Dr. Elena Myasoedova and her associates.
Each exposure to a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) flare lasting 6 weeks increased the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by about 7% in the study of 525 patients aged 30 years or older who were identified during 1988-2007 as meeting 1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA. CVD risk for RA patients in remission was similar to a random sample of patients without RA with similar age and sex. Patients who had increased cumulative moving averages in daily calculations of two methods for estimating RA severity, the RA medical Records-Based Index of Severity (RARBIS) and Claims-Based Index of RA Severity (CIRAS), had significantly higher risk of CVD (hazard ratios, 1.16 and 1.38, respectively). For each year spent in the highest CIRAS tertile, CVD risk rose by 18% when compared with time in the lowest tertile, the investigators found.
“These findings imply important cardiovascular benefits associated with improved flare management and tight inflammation control in RA,” the researchers concluded.
Read the full study published Jan. 30 in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-206411).