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October 20, 2015PLoS ONEOpen Access

Rheumatoid arthritis was not associated with increased carotid intima media thickness compared to healthy controls (0.556 mm vs 0.573 mm, p=0.220).

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Why the study?

Does rheumatoid arthritis increase carotid intima media thickness compared to healthy controls?

Population

360 participants without known cardiovascular disease, comprising 243 patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and…

Comparison

Rheumatoid arthritis vs Healthy controls without rheumatoid arthritis

Design

Cross-sectional

Key result

Rheumatoid arthritis was not associated with increased carotid intima media thickness compared to healthy controls (0.556 mm vs 0.573 mm, p=0.220).

Authors

DSD.F. van Breukelen-van der StoepDZD. van ZebenBKBoudewijn Klop

Discussion

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Overview

Similar cIMT in well-treated low-activity RA driven by age and hypertension; leaves open whether disease activity modulates broader CV risk.

Study Design

Type

Cross-Sectional (n=360)

Multicenter

No

Structured PICO

Does rheumatoid arthritis increase carotid intima media thickness compared to healthy controls?

P
Population
360 subjects (243 with rheumatoid arthritis and 117 healthy controls) aged 20-70 years without known cardiovascular disease, evaluated in a cross-sectional study.
E
Exposure
Rheumatoid arthritis
C
Comparator
Healthy controls without rheumatoid arthritis
O
Outcome
Carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) measured semi-automatically by ultrasoundsurrogate

Main Result

Mean Difference: 0.017 (95% CI -0.01–0.045)

Absolute Event Rate: 0.556% vs 0.573%

p-value: p=0.220

In well-treated rheumatoid arthritis patients with low disease activity, carotid intima media thickness is similar to healthy controls and is primarily driven by traditional cardiovascular risk factors like age and hypertension.

Limitations

  • Sample sizes were not sufficiently large to support the presence of a significant difference in mean cIMT between the groups with 80% power.
  • Only qualitative data on rheumatoid factor and anti-CCP were available, as these characteristics were not re-tested at inclusion.
  • The RA cohort had relatively low disease activity, so results may not apply to RA patients with higher average disease activity.

Cite This Study

Stoep et al. (2015) conducted a cross-sectional in Rheumatoid arthritis (n=360). Rheumatoid arthritis vs. Healthy controls without RA was evaluated on Carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) (MD 0.017, 95% CI -0.010-0.045, p=0.220). Rheumatoid arthritis was not associated with increased carotid intima media thickness compared to healthy controls (0.556 mm vs 0.573 mm, p=0.220).

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a1fc72c4cfeaf0c1adf6310https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0140844
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