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- cardiovascular diseases
- biological therapy
- magnetic resonance imaging
- ultrasonography
- arthritis
- rheumatoid
We have read with interest the article by Plein et al that has been published recently in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases. The article deals with the cardiovascular (CV) effects of biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) versus conventional synthetic (cs) DMARD therapy in early naïve rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.1 The authors compared etanercept (ETN) plus methotrexate (MTX) treatment versus MTX treat-to-target (TT) approach in patients with early RA (ERA), without CV disease and maximum one traditional risk factor. All patients underwent CVMR at baseline and after 1 and 2 years thereafter. At diagnosis, patients with ERA had reduced vascular distensibility, evidence of myocardial fibrosis and reduced left ventricular mass. The study revealed the presence of CV damage …
Footnotes
Contributors All authors have contributed equally for the production of the current manuscript.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting or dissemination plans of this research.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.