Cardiovascular Risks in RA Patients Declined Over Past 15 Years

A recent study presented at the 2017 EULAR Congress found that the risk for cardiovascular events has decreased among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) since the year 2000. 

Cécile Gaujoux-Viala, MD, PhD, head of the department of rheumatology of the Nîmes University Hospital, explained in a press release that this changed could be due to a focus on better control of chronic inflammation and the emergence of new, more effective treatment options.

“Over the past fifteen years, new treatment strategies such as tight control, treat to target, methotrexate optimization, and the use of biologic [disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs] DMARDs has allowed a better control of systemic inflammation in patients with RA,” Dr Gaujoux-Viala said in a press release.

In order to study how the risk for cardiovascular events has trended since the beginning of the 21st Century the researchers conducted a detailed meta-analysis using 28 observational studies from PubMed and Cochrane Library. The studies included those that compared the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with RA. Studies from before 2000 were compared to studies after 2000 to determine how the risk has changed. 

Study results showed that in studies published before 2000, there was a highly significant increase in the risk for four cardiovascular events in
patients with RA, including stroke, congestive heart failure, cardiovascular death, and myocardial infarction. 

Conversely, for studies published after the year 2000, increased cardiovascular risk among RA patients was not related to congestive heart failure or cardiovascular death. Additionally, the excess risk for myocardial infarction decreased compared to in studies before 2000.  

“This reduction in cardiovascular risk may have two explanations,” study coauthor Elisabeth Filhol, MD, of Nîmes University Hospital in France, said in a press release. “It may simply be due to better management of cardiovascular risk in patients with RA.”—David Costill