No link seen between number of RA flares and myocardial infarction risk

The rate of disease activity flares in patients with rheumatoid arthritis was not significantly associated with the risk for myocardial infarction, according to recently presented research.

Researchers studied 41 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who experienced myocardial infarction (MI) and randomly matched them 181 control patients with RA from a Dutch cohort. Patients with MI tended to be older and were more likely to be men with increased risk factors for cardiovascular disease including higher BMI, lipids and hypertension. Smoking status, disease duration, disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28), C-reactive protein levels and rheumatoid factor status were similar between the groups.

Researchers identified flares as an increase in DAS28 of 1.2 or above 0.6 in the presence of DAS28 above 3.2. Investigators calculated the rate of flares by dividing the number of identified flares by the disease duration.

The crude odds ratio (OR) was 0.78 for the association between the rate of flares and the occurrence of MI. Multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, lipids, male gender and hypertension revealed an OR of 0.97 for the relationship between the flare rate and MI events. - by Shirley Pulawski

Reference:

Bakker E, et al. Paper #1550. Presented at: American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting; Nov. 7-11, 2015; San Francisco.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.