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Occurrence and relative risk of stroke in incident and prevalent contemporary rheumatoid arthritis

Holmqvist, Marie ; Gransmark, Emma ; Mantel, Angla ; Alfredsson, Lars ; Jacobsson, Lennart LU ; Wallberg-Jonsson, Solveig and Askling, Johan (2013) In Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 72(4). p.541-546
Abstract
Objective In contrast with the wealth of data on ischaemic heart disease in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), data on stroke are scarce and contradictory. Despite the high clinical and aetiological relevance, there is no data regarding when (if ever) after RA diagnosis there is an increased risk. Our objective was to assess the risk of stroke (by subtype) in contemporary patients with RA, particularly in relation to time since RA diagnosis. Methods One incident RA cohort diagnosed between 1997 and 2009 (n=8077) and one nationwide prevalent RA cohort followed at Swedish rheumatology clinics between 2005 and 2009 ((n=39065) were assembled). Each cohort member was matched to a general population comparator. Information on first-time hospitalisations... (More)
Objective In contrast with the wealth of data on ischaemic heart disease in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), data on stroke are scarce and contradictory. Despite the high clinical and aetiological relevance, there is no data regarding when (if ever) after RA diagnosis there is an increased risk. Our objective was to assess the risk of stroke (by subtype) in contemporary patients with RA, particularly in relation to time since RA diagnosis. Methods One incident RA cohort diagnosed between 1997 and 2009 (n=8077) and one nationwide prevalent RA cohort followed at Swedish rheumatology clinics between 2005 and 2009 ((n=39065) were assembled). Each cohort member was matched to a general population comparator. Information on first-time hospitalisations for stroke up to 2009 was retrieved from the Swedish Patient Register. HR and 95% CI were estimated using Cox models. Results In prevalent unselected RA, the HR of ischaemic stroke was 1.29 (95% CI 1.18 to 1.41). In the incident RA cohort, the overall risk increase was small and nonsignificant (overall HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.30). When stratified by RA disease duration, an increased risk of ischaemic stroke was indeed detectable but only after 10 or more years since RA diagnosis (HR>10 years: 2.33, 95% CI 1.25 to 4.34). Risk of haemorrhagic stroke was increased in prevalent but not in incident RA. Conclusion The magnitude of stroke risk is lower than for ischaemic heart disease in RA, and the evolvement of this risk from RA diagnosis may be slower. This suggests different driving forces behind these two RA co-morbidities and has implications for the clinical follow-up of patients with RA. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
volume
72
issue
4
pages
541 - 546
publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • wos:000315378500012
  • scopus:84874433544
  • pmid:22610975
ISSN
1468-2060
DOI
10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-201387
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4ab24649-a809-49b0-a7b2-e34a7d15e9f2 (old id 3669865)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:28:19
date last changed
2022-04-14 18:01:06
@article{4ab24649-a809-49b0-a7b2-e34a7d15e9f2,
  abstract     = {{Objective In contrast with the wealth of data on ischaemic heart disease in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), data on stroke are scarce and contradictory. Despite the high clinical and aetiological relevance, there is no data regarding when (if ever) after RA diagnosis there is an increased risk. Our objective was to assess the risk of stroke (by subtype) in contemporary patients with RA, particularly in relation to time since RA diagnosis. Methods One incident RA cohort diagnosed between 1997 and 2009 (n=8077) and one nationwide prevalent RA cohort followed at Swedish rheumatology clinics between 2005 and 2009 ((n=39065) were assembled). Each cohort member was matched to a general population comparator. Information on first-time hospitalisations for stroke up to 2009 was retrieved from the Swedish Patient Register. HR and 95% CI were estimated using Cox models. Results In prevalent unselected RA, the HR of ischaemic stroke was 1.29 (95% CI 1.18 to 1.41). In the incident RA cohort, the overall risk increase was small and nonsignificant (overall HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.30). When stratified by RA disease duration, an increased risk of ischaemic stroke was indeed detectable but only after 10 or more years since RA diagnosis (HR>10 years: 2.33, 95% CI 1.25 to 4.34). Risk of haemorrhagic stroke was increased in prevalent but not in incident RA. Conclusion The magnitude of stroke risk is lower than for ischaemic heart disease in RA, and the evolvement of this risk from RA diagnosis may be slower. This suggests different driving forces behind these two RA co-morbidities and has implications for the clinical follow-up of patients with RA.}},
  author       = {{Holmqvist, Marie and Gransmark, Emma and Mantel, Angla and Alfredsson, Lars and Jacobsson, Lennart and Wallberg-Jonsson, Solveig and Askling, Johan}},
  issn         = {{1468-2060}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{541--546}},
  publisher    = {{BMJ Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases}},
  title        = {{Occurrence and relative risk of stroke in incident and prevalent contemporary rheumatoid arthritis}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-201387}},
  doi          = {{10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-201387}},
  volume       = {{72}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}