Cardiovascular risk in patients with inflammatory arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid and other inflammatory arthritis (ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis) have a high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is caused by the accelerated development of atherosclerosis associated with a chronic systemic inflammatory process. Nevertheless, traditional CVD risk factors (hypertension, smoking, dyslipidemia) are also important for patients with inflammatory arthritis. The greatest amount of data has been accumulated regarding the relationship between CVD and rheumatoid arthritis. Due to the difficulties in diagnosing coronary heart disease and other CVD, it is of great importance to identify patients at high and very high risk. The use of scales for assessing the total cardiovascular risk SCORE/SCORE 2 with a coefficient of 1.5 allows to identify patients who need measures to reduce their high risk of CVD. Control of the of the disease activity, lifestyle modification, therapy with statins and antihypertensive drugs in accordance with current guidelines, caution when prescribing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and minimizing the dose of glucocorticoids are the main components of the strategy for reducing the risk of CVD in patients with inflammatory arthritis.