title: Echocardiographic evaluation of diastolic dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis - a case-control study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) and its predictors in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional case-control study assessed 100 RA patients and 100 healthy controls for LVDD by M-mode, two-dimensional, colour Doppler echocardiography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RA patients had higher prevalence of LVDD than controls (43% vs. 14%; p < 0.001). LVDD had significant association with duration (p = 0.033), severity of disease activity (p < 0.0001), Steinbrocker stage and functional class (p < 0.0001 each) and non-adherence to treatment (p = 0.047). Peak of late diastolic (A) mitral flow velocity and isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) were higher (p < 0.05 each), whereas left ventricular ejection fraction, peak of early diastolic (E) mitral flow velocity and E/A ratio were lower (p < 0.05 each) in RA patients than in controls. Deceleration time (DT) was not significantly different in the two groups (p = 0.623). E/A ratio had significant correlation with anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA) (r = 0.233, p = 0.019) and age (r = 0.203, p = 0.042). IVRT had significant negative correlation with ACPA (r = -0.196, p = 0.044), while DT had significant correlation with Disease Activity Score with 28-joint (DAS28) counts (r = 0.244, p = 0.014). ACPA was an independent predictor of E/A ratio (p = 0.031). DAS28 was the only independent predictor of LVDD (odds ratio [OR] = 6.01; p = 0.007).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LVDD occurred commonly in RA patients and depended on severity of disease activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Swami Rama Himalayan University , Dehradun, Uttarakhand , India.
authors.forename: Abhishek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Reshma
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaushik
authors.forename: Rajeev Mohan
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Kaushik
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kakkar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003971:Diastole; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Echocardiographic evaluation; India; Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction; Rheumatoid arthritis