Usefulness of routine electrocardiography for heart disease screening in patients with spondyloarthropathy or rheumatoid arthritis.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the usefulness of routine electrocardiography for heart disease screening in patients with spondyloarthropathy (SpA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


METHODS
We included consecutive patients with SpA or RA or with degenerative joint disease (control group) admitted over a 6-month period and free of cardiovascular events. A 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) was obtained and was interpreted by a cardiologist who was unaware of the diagnosis.


RESULTS
We included 108 patients with SpA (mean duration, 11+/-10 years), 106 with RA (mean duration, 12+/-9 years), and 74 with degenerative joint disease (controls). No patient had cardiovascular symptoms or a prior history of cardiovascular disease. The only difference in cardiovascular risk factors across the three populations was a higher prevalence of diabetes in the RA and control groups. We found no differences between the SpA or RA groups and the control group regarding the rates of the following ECG findings: premature beats, atrioventricular block (2.8% in the SpA group, 1.9% in the RA group, and 2.7% in the control group), complete or incomplete left bundle branch block (0.9%, 0.9%, and 2.7%, respectively), complete right bundle branch bloc or left bundle branch block (0.9%, 4.7%, and 4.1%, respectively); and abnormalities suggesting myocardial ischemia (10.2%, 19.8%, and 17.6%, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with SpA or RA who have no cardiovascular symptoms or history of cardiovascular disease, a routine ECG shows no increase in the cardiac abnormalities specifically associated with these joint diseases, compared to controls with degenerative joint disease.
Goulenok
Tiphaine Miquel
TM
Services de rhumatologie A, hôpital Cochin, AP-HP, université Paris-Descartes, 27, rue du faubourg 75679 Paris cedex 14, France.
Meune
Christophe
C
Gossec
Laure
L
Dougados
Maxime
M
Kahan
André
A
Allanore
Yannick
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018880:Atrial Premature Complexes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D054537:Atrioventricular Block / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002037:Bundle-Branch Block / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D025242:Spondylarthropathies / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018879:Ventricular Premature Complexes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology