Key clinical point: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with poor long-term prognosis after myocardial infarction (MI).
Major finding: At 14-year follow-up after MI, the cumulative all-cause mortality risk was significantly higher among patients with vs. without RA (80.4% vs. 72.3%; hazard ratio [HR], 1.25; P less than .0001). Patients with RA had a higher risk for new MI (HR, 1.22; P = .0001) and revascularization (HR, 1.27; P = .002) after discharge from index MI.
Study details: This was a nationwide, multicenter, cohort register study of real-life MI patients with RA (n=1,614) retrospectively compared with propensity score-matched MI patients without RA (n=8,070).
Disclosures: This study was supported by grant funding from the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Paulo Foundation, and the Finnish Governmental VTR-funding. A Palomäki, AM Kerola, M Malmberg, and V Kytö reported relevant relationships with various pharmaceutical companies and/or research organizations. The other author declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Palomäki A et al. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021 Mar 1. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab204 .