Cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is 1.5-2-fold higher than age- and sex-matched individuals from the general population. This excess risk is attributed to the systemic chronic inflammation which is a hallmark of RA. Challenges to optimizing CV risk management in RA include the need for improved methods to predict CV risk, and defining the target risk factor(s) to reduce CV risk. Lessons learned from RA studies can also inform CV risk prevention in the general population, where inflammation also has an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.