Accelerated diastolic dysfunction in premenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis

• Published in: Arthritis research & therapy Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Kim, Gee Hee, Park, Yune-Jung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 24.09.2021; BioMed Central Ltd; Springer Nature B.V; BMC
• Subjects: Age; Arthritis; Blood pressure; Body mass index; Cardiovascular disease; Cholesterol; Complications and side effects; Creatinine; Demographic aspects; Development and progression; Diabetes; Diastolic dysfunction; Heart failure; Hypertension; Laboratories; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mortality; Normal distribution; Orthopedics; Population; Premenopausal women; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Research Article; Rheumatoid arthritis; Rheumatology; Risk factors; Smoking; TNF inhibitors; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Velocity; Womens health; South Korea; Premenopausal women; Diastolic dysfunction; Rheumatoid arthritis
• ISSN: 1478-6362; 1478-6354; 1478-6362
• DOI: 10.1186/s13075-021-02629-1

Background Disturbances of diastolic function precede systolic heart failure and, although clinically silent, represent the earliest sign of cardiac involvement. Diastolic dysfunction (DD) is associated with age, gender (female), and hypertension. However, little is known about the age-specific incidence rates and risk factors for DD in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods We used standard two-dimensional/Doppler echocardiography to screen for the presence of diastolic dysfunction in 61 patients with RA and 107 healthy subjects. All participants were premenopausal women with no history of hypertension. DD includes an impaired relaxation with or without increased left ventricular (LV) filling pressures, pseudonormal filling, and restrictive filling based on parameters measured using echocardiography. Results The two groups were similar with respect to age ( P =0.269). Patients with RA had significantly higher LV mass index, LV filling pressure, and lower E/A velocity than controls. All patients had preserved ejection fraction (EF ≥50%). DD was more common in patients with RA at 47% compared to 26% in the controls ( P =0.004). Women with RA in the 30- to 49-year age range were over 3.5 times more likely to have DD than those of similar age in the control group (OR=3.54; 95% CI 1.27 to 9.85). Among patients with RA, high CRP levels were independently associated with DD even after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors ( P =0.009). Conclusions In premenopausal women with RA, DD is much more common and the age of onset is reduced. Early screening of myocardial function may provide an opportunity for preventing future cardiovascular disease.