Table 5. Effects of infliximab therapy on conventional echocardiographic parameters versus prednisolone-treated patients.

	Infliximab-treated RA patients (n = 20)			Prednisolone-treated RA patients (n = 18)
	Baseline	3-month	p-value	Baseline	3-month	p-value	p-value#
LV EDV (ml)	81.7 ± 6.6	79.7 ± 6.9	0.411	83.9 ± 4.7	85.4 ± 9.8	0.868	0.2
LV ESV (ml)	28.3 ± 4.2	27.2 ± 3.6	0.14	29.2 ± 5.3	27.9 ± 2.6	0.557	0.5
LV EF (ml)	63.8 ± 4.0	64.6 ± 2.8	0.096	64.1 ± 3.3	64.9 ± 2.8	0.35	0.71
IVS (mm)	9.7 ± 1.7	9.5 ± 3.9	0.267	9.5 ± 2.5	9.4 ± 4.6	0.316	0.06
PW (mm)	8.6 ± 0.6	8.3 ± 0.4	0.056	8.5 ± 0.8	8.7 ± 0.4	0.381	0.82
S′ (cm/sec)	7.2 ± 1.8	6.8 ± 0.8	0.258	7.4 ± 2.5	7.6 ± 0.6	0.369	0.1
E′ (cm/sec)	7.9 ± 2.5	9.0 ± 1.3	0.181	8.3 ± 1.9	7.8 ± 2.4	0.6	0.09
E/E′	9.4 ± 3.9	8.0 ± 1.4	< 0.01	8.5 ± 2.5	8.8 ± 2.4	0.379	< 0.05
E (cm/s)	76.1 ± 7.4	76.0 ± 11.8	0.979	77.9 ± 8.2	79.5 ± 11.7	0.493	0.476
A (cm/s)	67.5 ± 9.9	66.0 ± 7.7	0.221	71.3 ± 11.2	70.2 ± 9.8	0.407	0.284
E/A	1.1 ± 0.2	1.1 ± 0.2	0.758	1.1 ± 0.2	1.1 ± 0.3	0.184	0.656
DT (ms)	199.1 ± 35.3	203.0 ± 34.1	0.609	198.6 ± 30.3	211.5 ± 22.4	0.055	0.858
IVRT (ms)	96.7 ± 10.8	95.3 ± 16.9	0.626	90.3 ± 10.1	90.3 ± 16.8	0.99	0.056

Values are expressed as mean ± SD.

^#For comparisons between infliximab- and prednisolone-treated patients at baseline.

LV = left ventricle, EDV = end-diastolic volume, ESV = end-systolic volume, EF = ejection fraction, IVS = interventricular septum, PW = posterior wall, DT = deceleration time, IVRT = isovolumic relaxation time.