Key clinical point: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at a significantly higher risk for aortic stenosis (AS) and subsequent aortic valve intervention and AS-related death than those without RA.
Major finding: Patients with vs without RA were at an increased risk for incident AS (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.48; 95% CI 1.41-1.55), AS-related death (aHR 1.26; 95% CI 1.04-1.54), and undergoing an AS-related aortic valvular intervention (aHR 1.34; 95% CI 1.22-1.48), including both surgical (aHR 1.30; 95% CI 1.16-1.45) and transcatheter (aHR 1.53; 95% CI 1.26-1.85) aortic valve replacements.
Study details: This retrospective cohort study included 73,070 patients with RA who were matched with 639,268 patients without RA.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention and other sources. TM Johnson declared receiving grants from the Rheumatology Research Foundation. Some authors declared receiving personal or consulting fees, grants, speaking honoraria, or royalties from various sources.
Source: Johnson TM et al. Aortic stenosis risk in rheumatoid arthritis. JAMA Intern Med. 2023 (Jul 31). doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.3087