The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Have More Severe ACS, Poorer Outcomes

Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Have More Severe ACS, Poorer Outcomes

October 9, 2015 • By Shannon Aymes

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with more-severe acute coronary syndrome and poorer outcomes, according to a new study.

You Might Also Like
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis May Confer Higher Cardiac & Infection Risks
  • Palindromic Rheumatism: Will It Progress to Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis?
  • Depression & Anxiety Linked to Poor Rheumatoid Arthritis Outcomes

“We found that despite the well-researched increased risk of acute coronary events (ACS) in RA, that there was almost no existing data describing clinical characteristics and outcomes of RA- and non-RA patients with ACS,” Dr. Angla Mantel of Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, told Reuters Health by email.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Using national registers, Dr. Mantel and colleagues found that 1,135 RA patients (0.9%) and 3,184 matched controls from the general population (0.5%) had incident ACS between 2007 and 2010.

In the patient cohort, stable angina, thromboembolic disease, chronic heart failure and COPD were more prevalent than in the general population, the researchers report in the European Heart Journal, online Sept. 24.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Both groups presented with chest pain about 80% of the time. However, patients with RA demonstrated ST elevations on ECG slightly more often (35.3% vs. 30.5%), had higher troponin levels and more often presented with sudden cardiac death.

RA patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) received reperfusion therapies such as coronary artery bypass, acute coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or thrombolysis more often the general population group (74.1% vs. 66.2%).

The first week after an ACS event, significantly more RA patients died compared to the controls (10.4% versus 6.7%; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.44).

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

After 30 days, 15.7% of the RA patients had died versus 10.7% of the controls (adjusted HR, 1.36). In both groups, most of the deaths were attributed to a cardiac cause.

“We hope that our results will lead to a widespread clinical awareness of this group of patients when assessing and (identifying) high-risk ACS patients,” Dr. Mantel said. “We have focused on the clinical importance in this study, but it is also intriguing that our results indicate that the aetiopathology of ACS in RA patients differs from non-RA patients.”

 

Filed Under: Conditions, Rheumatoid Arthritis Tagged With: acute coronary syndrome, Cardiovascular disease, Myocardial infarction, Outcomes, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

You Might Also Like:
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis May Confer Higher Cardiac & Infection Risks
  • Palindromic Rheumatism: Will It Progress to Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis?
  • Depression & Anxiety Linked to Poor Rheumatoid Arthritis Outcomes
  • Oral & Gut Microbiomes Altered in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

Rheumatology Research Foundation

The Foundation is the largest private funding source for rheumatology research and training in the U.S.

Learn more »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)