TY - JOUR T1 - NT-proBNP predicts mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: results from 10-year follow-up of the EURIDISS study JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO - Ann Rheum Dis SP - 1946 LP - 1950 DO - 10.1136/ard.2009.127704 VL - 69 IS - 11 AU - Sella Provan AU - Kristin Angel AU - Anne Grete Semb AU - Dan Atar AU - Tore K Kvien Y1 - 2010/11/01 UR - http://ard.bmj.com/content/69/11/1946.abstract N2 - Objectives Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a higher mortality than the general population, and this increased mortality is related to demographic and disease variables. N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a predictor of mortality both in general and patient populations, but has not been shown to predict mortality in patients with RA. This study examines whether NT-proBNP can further improve the prediction of mortality in RA. Methods 182 patients with RA of 5–9 years disease duration were comprehensively examined in 1997. Serum samples were frozen and later batch analysed for NT-proBNP levels and other biomarkers. Adjusted univariate and logistic regression analyses were performed with death within the 10-year follow-up period as the dependent variable. Significant predictors were also examined as dichotomised variables. Results Mortality was predicted in univariate analyses by the following variables: age, sex, homozygosity for HLA-DRB1 shared epitope alleles, Health Assessment Questionnaire, 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) and NT-proBNP. A multivariate model with age, sex, DAS28 and NT-proBNP as independent variables showed the greatest discrimination. Conclusion NT-proBNP provided incremental information in the prediction of mortality in this cohort of patients with RA. ER -