Table 1.
Baseline characteristics.
| Patient Characteristics | n = 47 |
|---|---|
| Age, years | 57 (±11) |
| Gender, female (n, %) | 32 (68%) |
| RA disease duration, years | 5 (2–19) |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 26.0 (±4.5) |
| History of vascular disease (n, %) | 1 (2%) |
| Hypertension (n, %) | 4 (9%) |
| Systolic blood pressure, mmHg | 130 (±15) |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg | 80 (±10) |
| Hypercholesterolemia (n, %) | 3 (6%) |
| Diabetes mellitus type 2 (n, %) | 1 (2%) |
| Smoking (n, %) | 13 (29%) |
| Rheumatoid factor positive (n, %) | 33 (66%) |
| Anti-cyclic citrullinated protein positive (n, %) | 32 (68%) |
| LDL, mmol/L | 2.93 (±0.90) |
| HDL, mmol/L | 1.57 (±0.50) |
| Medication | |
| Current oral corticosteroid use (n, %) | 13 (28%) |
| Intra-muscular/intra-articular corticosteroid in the past 3 months (n, %) | 9 (19%) |
| csDMARD use | 43 (92%) |
| Methotrexate (with or without other csDMARD(s)) | 33 (70%) |
| Other csDMARD(s) | 10 (21%) |
| Biological therapy (n, %) | |
| Etanercept | 16 (34%) |
| Adalimumab | 23 (49%) |
| Certolizumab | 7 (15%) |
| Golimumab | 1 (2%) |
| Disease activity parameters | |
| DAS28 | 4.44 (±1.23) |
| CRP, mmol/L | 6.3 (3.1–20.0) |
| ESR, mm/h | 22.5 (9.0–42.5) |
| Health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) | 1.25 (0.75–1.50) |
| Cardiac parameters | |
| E/e’ ratio (n = 46) | 7.9 (6.6–9.0) |
| E/A ratio (n = 46) | 1.1 (±0.36) |
| Deceleration time, ms (n = 43) | 0.22 (±0.06) |
| LA volume index, mL/m2 (n = 33) | 28.40 (±7.53) |
| LV ejection fraction, % (n = 29) | 63.1 (±8.8) |
| GLS (n = 44) | −19.8 (±3.5) |
| Impaired GLS (>−17%) (n, %) (n = 44) | 6 (14%) |
| LV mass index, g/m2 (n = 42) | 68.46 (±17.97) |
| Diastolic LV dysfunction (n, %) (n = 46) | |
| No diastolic dysfunction | 38 (83%) |
| grade I | 2 (4%) |
| grade II | 1 (2%) |
| grade III | 0 (0%) |
| indeterminate | 5 (11%) |
| Systolic LV dysfunction (n, %) (n = 29) | 2 (7%) |
| Aortic valve stenosis (n, %) (n = 46) | 0 (0%) |
| Aortic valve regurgitation (n, %) (n=46) | 6 (13%) |
| mild | 6 (13%) |
| moderate | 0 (0%) |
| severe | 0 (0%) |
| Mitral valve stenosis (n, %) (n = 46) | 0 (0%) |
| Mitral valve regurgitation (n, %) (n = 45) | 18 (38%) |
| mild | 18 (38%) |
| moderate | 0 (%) |
| severe | 0 (0%) |
| H2FPEF score | |
| 0–1 points | 32 (70%) |
| 2–4 points | 15 (30%) |
| 5–6 points | 0 (0%) |
| Cardiac biomarkers | |
| Troponin-T, µg/mL | 6 (3–8) |
| NT-proBNP, ng/L | 88.6 (47.0–142.0) |
Values are displayed as mean ± standard deviation (SD), median (IQR) or frequencies with corresponding percentages (%). RA = rheumatoid arthritis, BMI = body mass index, LDL = low density lipoprotein, HDL = high density lipoprotein, csDMARD = conventional synthetic Disease Modifying Anti Rheumatic Drug(s), DAS28 = disease activity score-28, CRP = C-reactive protein, ESR = erythrocyte sedimentation rate, LA = left atrial, LV = left ventricular, GLS = global longitudinal strain, NT-ProBNP = N-terminal pro hormone-brain natriuretic peptide.