Rheumatoid arthritis and thrombosis.
OBJECTIVE
To review prevalence, risk factors and mechanisms of thrombosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


METHODS
Available medical literature on PubMed was reviewed and relevant information summarized.


RESULTS
Patients affected by RA present an increased risk of thromboembolism, an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Research is focused on the role of disease-associated risk factors and predisposing conditions such as endothelial dysfunction, hypercoagulability, pro-thrombotic conditions, inflammatory markers, immobility and complications following major knee or hip replacement.


CONCLUSIONS
Thrombosis is a possible manifestation in RA patients. A number of factors are suspected to play a role in the increased thromboembolic risk. The mechanisms responsible for thrombosis in these patients remain unclear, however, the identification of the thrombophilic risk factors is clinically useful to determine in which patients occurrence is more likely.
Mameli
A
A
Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria of Cagliari, Italy. amameli@medicina.unica.it
Barcellona
D
D
Marongiu
F
F
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D019851:Thrombophilia / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal