The heart and cardiovascular manifestations in rheumatoid arthritis.

Cardiovascular features in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are common. Among those are the classical extra-articular features that not only include pericarditis, cardiomyopathy/myocarditis, cardiac amyloidosis, coronary vasculitis, arrhythmia and valve diseases, but also congestive heart failure and ischaemic heart disease which are found more frequently and are associated with an increased mortality compared with the general population. This overview discusses the epidemiological aspects of these cardiovascular diseases and their relevance for diagnosis and treatment of RA.