Effect of aspirin on prevention of coronary and cerebrovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. A long-term follow-up study.

Between 1950 and 1975, 473 Rochester patients had the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and received aspirin treatment. These patients were followed for an average of 10 years to determine whether they experienced myocardial infarction, classic angina pectoris, sudden unexpected death, or cerebral infarction less often than expected on the basis of age- and sex-specific incidence rates of each event known for the Rochester population. In none of these disease entities, separately, or combined, was the expected number significantly different from the observed. However, when we examined these events separately by sex, observed numbers in males were 30 to 50% less than expected in all four studied end-events. Because the male population was small, none of these differences reached statistical significance. The possible effect of aspirin in the primary prevention of vascular disease in males is discussed in light of the recent similar reported results in secondary prevention.