Why the study?
Does rheumatoid arthritis affect the incidence of morbidity and mortality from myocardial infarction compared to matched controls?
Does rheumatoid arthritis affect the incidence of morbidity and mortality from myocardial infarction compared to matched controls?
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a significantly lower incidence of myocardial infarction at autopsy, which the authors hypothesize may be due to chronic aspirin therapy inhibiting platelet aggregation.
Should not yet change MI risk management in RA; leaves open mechanisms such as aspirin use in this case-control association.
At autopsy, 62 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) showed significantly lower morbidity (P < 0.001) and mortality (P < 0.02) from myocardial infarction than 62 matched control patients, but there were no significant differences in frequency of cerebral infarction or pulmonary embolism. Coronary artery atherosclerosis occurred as frequently in the patients with RA as in the control population, suggesting that there may be a decreased tendency toward thrombosis in the rheumatoid group. Therapy with aspirin and the consequent inhibition of platelet aggregation may explain this observation.
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Davis et al. (1974) studied this question.
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