title: Beyond the joint: Subclinical atherosclerosis in rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease associated with increased cardiovascular risk and higher mortality in respect to general population. Beyond joint disease, inflammation is the major determinant of accelerated atherosclerosis observed in rheumatoid arthritis. We review the relationship between inflammation, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis, focusing on the assessment of subclinical atherosclerosis by functional and morphological methods. These tools include flow mediated dilatation, carotid intima-media thickness, ankle/brachial index, coronary calcium content, pulse wave analysis and serum biomarker of subclinical atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Antongiulio Scarno, Francesca Cardini, UOC Medicina E, Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Specialità Mediche, Sapienza - Università di Roma - Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antongiulio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scarno
authors.affiliation: Antongiulio Scarno, Francesca Cardini, UOC Medicina E, Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Specialità Mediche, Sapienza - Università di Roma - Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio Massimo
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Perrotta
authors.affiliation: Antongiulio Scarno, Francesca Cardini, UOC Medicina E, Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Specialità Mediche, Sapienza - Università di Roma - Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cardini
authors.affiliation: Antongiulio Scarno, Francesca Cardini, UOC Medicina E, Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Specialità Mediche, Sapienza - Università di Roma - Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carboni
authors.affiliation: Antongiulio Scarno, Francesca Cardini, UOC Medicina E, Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Specialità Mediche, Sapienza - Università di Roma - Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianmarco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Annibali
authors.affiliation: Antongiulio Scarno, Francesca Cardini, UOC Medicina E, Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Specialità Mediche, Sapienza - Università di Roma - Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Ennio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lubrano
authors.affiliation: Antongiulio Scarno, Francesca Cardini, UOC Medicina E, Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Specialità Mediche, Sapienza - Università di Roma - Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spadaro
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Flow mediated dilatiation; Inflammation; Intima-media thickness; Rheumatoid arthritis