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Prevalence and extent of calcification over aorta, coronary and carotid arteries in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Journal of Internal Medicine, 06/26/09

Wang S et al. – Data demonstrate that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients had earlier onset, more diffuse arterial calcification over multiple vascular beds and more preferential involvement of thoracic aorta, rather than coronary artery when compared with control.

Methods

An evaluation of the prevalence and pattern of arterial calcification in pts with RA
85 RA pts and 85 age-and sex-matched controls were studied
Arterial calcification as determined by calcium score (CS) were measured using multi-detector computed tomography in thoracic aorta, coronary and carotid arteries

Results

RA pts had a higher average CS and prevalence of CS >0 in aorta, coronary and carotid arteries and overall arteries
After adjusting for age and sex, RA pts had a higher relative risk of developing calcification in the aorta, followed by the carotid arteries, and coronary arteries
Amongst RA pts aged >60, 90% had diffuse arterial calcification, especially over the thoracic aorta, vs 55% of controls who had arterial calcification clustered in the coronary arteries
RA pts with total CS >0 were older with a higher urea level and CRP than those w/o arterial calcification
No factor was found to be independently predictive for arterial calcification

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