Prevalence of asymptomatic diastolic cardiac dysfunction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Arnab Kundu; Vishal Marwaha; Rajesh Kanumuri; Mithun CB

Volume : IX, Issue : III, March - 2019

Prevalence of asymptomatic diastolic cardiac dysfunction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Arnab Kundu, Vishal Marwaha, Rajesh Kanumuri, Mithun Cb

Abstract :

Objectives: We conducted a study to determine the prevalence of asymptomatic left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and to assess the relationship between diastolic dysfunction with RA disease duration and disease activity. Methods: RA patients (n=100) who had completed at least 6 months of regular follow–up and treatment were included in the study. LVDD was assessed by echocardiography. Descriptive statistics and appropriate tests were used to analyze the results. Results: Asymptomatic LVDD was present in 46(46%) participants, and there was no relation with respect to the gender of the population (p–value: 0.770). The group with LVDD had a significant association with longer disease duration (p–value <0.001) and high DAS28–ESR (p–value: 0.034). Conclusion: The prevalence of asymptomatic LVDD in our cohort was significantly high. This study suggests screening all RA patients for LVDD even if they are asymptomatic