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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2022 Mar 1;28(2):e430-e432.
doi: 10.1097/RHU.0000000000001755.

Cardiovascular Risk Assessment in Women With Rheumatoid Arthritis Through Carotid and Femoral Artery Doppler Ultrasound

Nathália de Carvalho Sacilotto  1 , André Ozela Augusto  1 , Dayrana Alves Lucena  1 , Marcos Roberto Godoy  2 , Rogério Duque de Almeida  2 , Roberta de Almeida Pernambuco  1 , Sônia Maria Alvarenga Anti Loduca Lima  1 , Roberto Sacilotto  2 , Rina Dalva Neubarth Giorgi  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Cardiovascular Risk Assessment in Women With Rheumatoid Arthritis Through Carotid and Femoral Artery Doppler Ultrasound

Nathália de Carvalho Sacilotto et al. J Clin Rheumatol. .

Abstract

Objective: The aims of this study were to assess cardiovascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) classified as low-risk by the Framingham score, before and after the multiplication by 1.5 recommended by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), and to stratify them using carotid and femoral Doppler ultrasound (DUS) in order to optimize the assessment of the asymptomatic cardiovascular disease incidence.

Methods: Thirty-five female patients with RA and 35 healthy women (control group), both with low cardiovascular risk by Framingham score, were enrolled in the study (randomized). All of them underwent carotid and femoral DUS studies.

Results: The mean age at diagnosis was 44.57 years, the mean disease duration was 12.11 years and the mean disease activity score according to the Disease Activity Score 28 was 1.91, whereas according to the Clinical Disease Activity Index, it was 6.176. The sample was homogeneous. Within the RA group, 46% showed changes in the carotid and/or femoral DUS, compared with 14% in the control group (p = 0.004). Of the DUS with abnormalities, in the RA group, 31% of the carotid DUS and 81% of the femoral DUS (p = 0.005) showed intima-media thickness and/or atherosclerotic plaques. After EULAR 1.5 multiplication factor, 66% remained low cardiovascular risk. Of these, 35% of the patients showed changes in the carotid and/or femoral DUS, compared with 14% of the control group (p = 0.07).

Conclusions: The EULAR criteria are effective at identifying patients with high cardiovascular risk. Carotid DUS and, especially, femoral DUS are tools that can be used in clinical practice as ways to detect CVD even in its asymptomatic form.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

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