Heart failure & cardiomyopathies
Associations between rheumatoid arthritis, incident heart failure, and left ventricular ejection fraction
Authors' conclusion
RA was independently associated with incident HF, particularly HF with LVEF≥40%. RA did not associate with cardiovascular outcomes following HF diagnosis but was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality in HF with LVEF<40%.
Study context
- Population
- Incident Heart Failure (HF) patients in the Swedish Heart Failure Registry, 2003–201820,916 HF patients
- Comparison
- Prior rheumatoid arthritis (RA) vs no RA, by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), in incident HF; HF patients vs HF-free controls
- HF-free controlsn = 103,501reference
- Outcome
- Association between prior RA diagnosis and LVEF (dichotomised at 40%) in incident HF
Methodological detailsnationwide registry, matched general population controls
- Nationwide registry
- Matched general population controls
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Prior RA
Odds ratio (95% CI)
LVEF<40%vs HF-free controls
1.4(1.1–1.8)
LVEF≥40%vs HF-free controls
1.6(1.3–2.0)
LVEF≥40%vs LVEF<40%among HF patients
1.4(1.1–1.7)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | HR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| All-cause mortality, RAvs no RA, LVEF<40% · up to 5 yearsAssociation observed only for LVEF<40% | 1.4 (1.1–1.8) | |
| 0.512Hazard ratio (log scale) |
CV outcomes up to 5 years after HF diagnosis, RA vs no RA
- No associations between RA and CV outcomes across LVEF
Original publication
Associations between rheumatoid arthritis, incident heart failure, and left ventricular ejection fraction. Am Heart J. Published 10 February 2023. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →