AB0323 CARDIOVASCULAR RISK ESTIMATION IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS TREATED WITH BIOLOGICS OR C-DMARDS

Abstract

Background Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) are at increased risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular (CV) disease. The impact of treatment with conventional or biological disease modifying drugs (c- or b-DMARDs) on inflammation of systemic circulation is an important question. Objectives The aim of this study is to determine the influence of therapy (c-DMARDs or b-DMARDs) on 10 year CV risk in patients with RA, over a period of 18 months. Methods A single center, observational study of 229 consecutive RA patients, who were treated with c-DMARDs or b-DMARDs mono/combination therapy for at least 18 months. The 10 year CV risk was calculated with Framingham risk score (FRS). Results A total of 229 patients were included, 111 received b-DMARDs and 194 c-DMARDs. The mean age was comparable between 2 groups (62.45±12.74 vs 64.56±12.48years, p: 0.1596) and 148 (64.63%) were female. Patients receiving b-DMARDs had longer disease duration compared to c-DMARDs group (14.34±9.89 vs 9.99±9.3 years respectively, p: 0.001) and comparable baseline FRS 10-year percent CV risk (10.74±8.88 vs 11.68±8.78 respectively, p: 0.3710). Baseline patient distribution across intermediate (9.6% vs 16.6%) and high (10.91% vs 16.16%) FRS 10-year CV risk categories was comparable between treatment groups (b-DMARDs vs c-DMARDs, p: 0.208), except low FRS category (27.51% vs 51.53% respectively, p Conclusion Patients treated with b-DMARDs had lower baseline and month 18 10-year CV risk. However, both treatment arms induced significant improvement of 10-year CV risk at 18 months.