Table 1.
Association of carotid atherosclerosis with rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory markers
| SN | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 | C7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First author (year) | N | Mean age (years) | Image-based phenotype | Non-image risk factors | Results | Summary | |
| R1 | Rincon (2003) [35] | 204 | 59.6 (For RA) and 59.7 (For Controls) | cIMT and presence CP | ESR and CRP | cIMT associated with ESR (r = 0.16, p = 0.004 for) and CRP (r = 0.13, p = 0.02) | cIMT and presence of CP are associated with ESR and CRP. cIMT increases by 0.005 mm for every one-unit increase in ESR |
| R2 | Carotti (2007) [39] | 80 (40 with RA and 40 controls) | 59.95 ± 11.93 | cIMT and CP from CCA | TC, LDL-c, TG, BMI, RF, VAS, CRP |
RA vs. Non-RA: cIMT = 0.83 ± 0.23 vs. 0.86 ± 0.22 mm and CP prevalence = 25% vs. 12.5% |
Carotid atherosclerosis image-based phenotypes are significantly higher in RA patients than in the non-RA population |
| R3 | Kobayashi (2010) [40] | 393 (195 with RA and 198 controls) | 59.4 (RA) and 59.8 (controls) | cIMT and CP from CCA and ICA-bulb | HTN, BMI, DM, Smoking, FH, |
RA vs. Non-RA: IMT in ICA-bulb = 1.16 vs. 1.02 mm and OR for CP = 2.41, 95% CI 1.26-4.61 |
RA was associated with high severity of atherosclerosis in carotid ICA- bulb than with CCA |
| R4 | Ristić (2010) [93] | 74 (42 with RA and 32 controls) | 45.3 ± 10 (RA) and 45.2 ± 9.8 (controls) | cIMT from CCA, bifurcation, and ICA | Age, BMI, Smoking, RF, ESR, duration of RA therapy |
RA vs. Non-RA: cIMTCCA = 0.671 vs. 0.621, cIMTBIF = 0.889 vs. 0.804, cIMTICA = 0.577 vs. 0.535 |
Carotid IMT in RA patients was higher in three artery segments (CCA, BIF, ICA) when compared to controls. Also, cIMT is negatively correlated with RA inflammation treatment |
| R5 | Kaseem (2011) [37] | 30 | 43.59 ± 7.2 | cIMT and cIMTmax | CRP, ESR, IL-6 | OR for carotid atherosclerosis: CRP = 1.90, ESR = 1.50, and IL-6 = 1.80, with p < 0.05 | Inflammatory markers are significantly associated with carotid atherosclerosis |
| R6 |
Rincon (2015) [38] |
487 | 58.2 | cIMT | ESR | OR for cIMT progression using ESR = 1.12 per 10 mm/h | ESR and ESR × CVD risk factor terms were significantly associated with cIMT progression |
| R7 | Corrales (2015) [89] | 144 |
52.1 ± 5.7 with CP and 42.4 ± 9.5 without CP |
CP | Age, TC, disease-modifying agents such as DMARDs | AUC for carotid plaque prediction in RA: using age = 0.807 (p < 0.0001) and using TC = 0.679 (p = 0.001) | Prevalence of plaque = 37.5% wit age > 49.5 years and TC > 5.4 mmol/l. The carotid plaque in RA patients can be we well predicted using age and TC |
| R8 | Pope (2016) [36] | 31 |
63.2 ± 8.9 with plaque 57.1 ± 9.8 without plaque |
cIMT | ESR, hsCRP | OR for carotid plaque burden using ESR = 1.148, p = 0.028 | Inflammatory markers such as ESR and hsCRP are used to predict the carotid plaque burden |
| R9 | Svanteson (2017) [113] | 55 | 62.2 ± 8.6 | cIMT and CP height | Age, BMI, SBP, DBP, HTN, DM, Smoking, Hyperlipidemia |
OR for CAD: For cIMT ≥ 0.7 mm = 4.08 For CP height ≥ 1.5 mm = 8.96 |
Beyond the presence of CP, CP height, and cIMT are also important for predicting CAD in RA patients |
SN serial number, N number of patients, RA rheumatoid arthritis, CVD cardiovascular disease, CAD coronary artery disease, cIMT carotid intima-media thickness, cIMTmax maximum carotid intima-media thickness, CP carotid plaque, CCA common carotid artery, ICA internal carotid artery, BIF bifurcation, ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CRP C reactive protein, hsCRP high sensitivity C reactive protein, IL-6 interleukin 6, RF rheumatoid factor, DMARDs disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, TC total cholesterol, LDL-c low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, HDL-c high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, TG triglyceride, BMI body mass index, HTN hypertension, DM diabetes mellitus, FH family history, SBP systolic blood pressure, DBP diastolic blood pressure, OR odds ratio, AUC area-under-the-curve