The following is a summary of “Carotid atherosclerosis in the first five years since rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis: a cross sectional study,” published in the August 2023 issue of Rheumatology by Galarza-Delgado et al.

People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have higher levels of systemic inflammation before diagnosis, which is linked to faster progression of atherosclerosis. Researchers performed a retrospective study to compare early-diagnosed RA patients and healthy controls for carotid plaque (CP) presence, alongside identifying RA disease traits linked to subclinical atherosclerosis. 

This cross-sectional study recruited 60 RA patients (diagnosed <5 years) and 60 healthy controls. Carotid ultrasound measured CP presence and carotid-intima media thickness (cIMT). Subclinical atherosclerosis was CP and/or increased cIMT. Data were analyzed with appropriate tests. Statistical comparisons utilized Chi-square/Fisher’s exact tests (qualitative) and Student’s t/Mann-Whitney’s U tests (quantitative). Significance was set at P<0.05. 

Results demonstrated there were no demographic differences between RA patients and controls. RA patients had 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). In RA patients, subclinical atherosclerosis is linked to age (P=0.002), dyslipidemia (P=0.002), and disease activity (P=0.010). Disease activity was independently tied to subclinical atherosclerosis (OR 6.11, 95% CI 1.51–24.70, P=0.011).

The study found RA patients have a higher risk of subclinical atherosclerosis after diagnosis. Carotid ultrasound should be used to screen RA patients.

Source: advancesinrheumatology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42358-023-00319-x