Page 101 - THE EVOLUTION OF EARLY ARTHRITIS AND CARDIOVASCULAR RISK Samina A. Turk

Baseline characteristics, n=480
Age, yrs
Sex, male (n, %)
Symptom duration, mos, median (IQR) VAS pain, median (IQR)
DAS28
ESR, mm/h, median (IQR)
CRP, mg/l, median (IQR)
RF-positive, n (%)
ACPA-positive, n (%)
TJC 28, median (IQR)
SJC 28, median (IQR)
Conduction
Conduction disorder, n (%)
HR, bpm *
QRS, ms *
QT, ms *
Values
53 (13.3)
135 (28.0)
6.0 (3.0-17.8) 52.0 (28.0-70.0) 4.8 (1.4)
20.0 (9.0-38.0) 7.5 (2.0-20.0) 228 (50.9)
256 (57.3)
5.0 (2.0-9.0) 5.0 (3.0-9.0)
60 (12.5) 66.7 (11.5) 93.8 (11.7) 402.6 (30.7)
table continues
THE RELATION BETWEEN CARDIAC CONDUCTION TIMES
in the cross-table smaller than 5. Linear or logistic regression analysis was performed to assess associations between conduction times and clinical and laboratory data. A p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Data were analyzed with SPSS Version 21.0 (SPSS).
RESULTS
Baseline patient data.
The study included 480 consecutive patients with early arthritis. Of them, 406 (85%)
fulfilled the ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria for RA. The mean age was 53 years and 28% were
men. Further descriptive data are in Table 1. At baseline, 63 patients used a statin and 87
patients used 1 or more antihypertensive drug; of them, 25 used a β-blocker or calcium
channel blocker. During the first year, 359 patients started antirheumatic treatment.
Eighty patients used monotherapy MTX, 21 HCQ, and 5 prednisone. All other patients
used a combination of 2 or more of these drugs. 5
Table 1. Demographics. Values are mean (SD) unless otherwise indicated
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