RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Cardiovascular Event Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis Compared with Type 2 Diabetes: A 15-year Longitudinal Study JF The Journal of Rheumatology JO J Rheumatol FD The Journal of Rheumatology SP 316 OP 324 DO 10.3899/jrheum.180726 VO 47 IS 3 A1 Rabia Agca A1 Luuk H.G.A. Hopman A1 Koen J.C. Laan A1 Vokko P. van Halm A1 Mike J.L. Peters A1 Yvo M. Smulders A1 Jacqueline M. Dekker A1 Giel Nijpels A1 Coen D.A. Stehouwer A1 Alexandre E. Voskuyl A1 Maarten Boers A1 Willem F. Lems A1 Michael T. Nurmohamed YR 2020 UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/47/3/316.abstract AB Objective. Cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD) risk is increased in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, longterm followup studies investigating this risk are scarce.Methods. The CARRÉ (CARdiovascular research and RhEumatoid arthritis) study is a prospective cohort study investigating CVD and its risk factors in 353 patients with longstanding RA. CV endpoints were assessed at baseline and 3, 10, and 15 years after the start of the study and are compared to a reference cohort (n = 2540), including a large number of patients with type 2 diabetes (DM).Results. Ninety-five patients with RA developed a CV event over 2973 person-years, resulting in an incidence rate of 3.20 per 100 person-years. Two hundred fifty-seven CV events were reported in the reference cohort during 18,874 person-years, resulting in an incidence rate of 1.36 per 100 person-years. Age- and sex-adjusted HR for CV events were increased for RA (HR 2.07, 95% CI 1.57–2.72, p < 0.01) and DM (HR 1.51, 95% CI 1.02–2.22, p = 0.04) compared to the nondiabetic participants. HR was still increased in RA (HR 1.82, 95% CI 1.32–2.50, p < 0.01) after additional adjustment for CV risk factors. Patients with both RA and DM or insulin resistance had the highest HR for developing CVD (2.21, 95% CI 1.01–4.80, p = 0.046 and 2.67, 95% CI 1.30–5.46, p < 0.01, respectively).Conclusion. The incidence rate of CV events in established RA was more than double that of the general population. Patients with RA have an even higher risk of CVD than patients with DM. This risk remained after adjustment for traditional CV risk factors, suggesting that systemic inflammation is an independent contributor to CV risk.