title: Subclinical atherosclerosis among rheumatoid arthritis patients without overt cardiovascular risk factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the associated factors of subclinical atherosclerosis measured with carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients without any overt traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty RA patients with matched age and gender healthy controls were recruited. Carotid ultrasound was performed to all subjects. CIMT was considered to be abnormally thickened if it was more than the 75th percentile matched for age and sex reference values. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association between the sociodemographics and disease characteristics of RA with thickened CIMT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Abnormally thickened CIMT were observed in 11 RA patients (27.5%) and in 4 control subjects (10%), p = 0.04. It was highly prevalent among RA patients with active disease (54.5% vs 17.2%), p = 0.02. Patients with thickened CIMT also tend to have erosive disease, p = 0.06. Seropositive rheumatoid factor (RF) patients also had significantly higher CIMT values as compared with sero-negative patients, p = 0.03. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that active disease was independently associated with thickened CIMT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RA patients are at risk for subclinical atherosclerosis despite absence of traditional CV risk co morbidities and active disease was the independent factor associated with it.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia , Serdang , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Narisa Sulaiman
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Sahari
authors.forename: Syahrul Sazliyana
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Shaharir
authors.forename: Mohd Redzuan
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.forename: Sakthiswary
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rajalingham
authors.forename: Mohd Shahrir
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mohamed Said
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Carotid intima media thickness; Disease activity; Rheumatoid arthritis