de Armas HA, Solís CU, Prada HDM, Benítez FY, Vázquez ARL

Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 51-63
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ABSTRACT

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic and progressive inflammatory disease characterized by inflammation of synovial joints and systemic manifestations.
Objective: To describe some risk factors for atherosclerosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed in 112 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. For the positive diagnosis the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology were taken into account. A questionnaire created for the investigation was applied and laboratory examinations and determination of anthropometric measurements were carried out to determine the presence of risk factors for atherosclerosis.
Results: Mean age of 56.3 years, with predominance of age group under 49 years, female (81.3%); 76.3% of the patients had atherosclerotic risk factors with a predominance of smoking (41.1%), hypertension (24.1%) and body mass index (18.8%).
Conclusions: There is a high incidence of atherosclerotic risk factors in rheumatoid arthritis patients, with the highest incidence of smoking, hypertension and elevation of body mass index; methotrexate and steroids are the drugs most commonly used in the control of rheumatoid arthritis and it seems that in doses usually used, they play a protective role on the vascular endothelium.