Increased incidence of stroke and impaired prognosis after stroke among patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the incidence of, and outcome after, a stroke in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared with the general population.


METHODS
The northern Sweden MONICA register was used to compare the incidence of stroke in a cohort of RA patients with the general population. Forty RA patients who had also suffered a stroke were identified. For each patient with RA, three controls with a history of stroke but without RA were randomly collected from the same register, and matched for age and sex.


RESULTS
The standardised incidence ratio (SIR) for stroke was 2.7 in RA patients compared with the general population (p<0.05). During the follow-up, RA patients had a higher overall case fatality (CF) following stroke compared with controls (hazard ratio (HR) =1.70, p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Both the incidence of a stroke, and the subsequent CF, were higher among RA patients compared with the general population. The results emphasize the necessity of optimising the prevention of stroke and follow-up care after a stroke in RA.
Södergren
A
A
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Rheumatology, University of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden. anna.sodergren@medicin.umu.se
Stegmayr
B
B
Ohman
M-L
ML
Wållberg-Jonsson
S
S
D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D015996:Survival Rate; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology