TIME COURSE OF STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHANGES IN THE MYOCARDIAL ARTERIES OF PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS TREATED WITH METHOTREXATE AND HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE DURING A 4-YEAR FOLLOW-UP PERIOD

Many patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) develop myocardial damage that is frequently latent and usually manifests itself as congestive heart failure and arrhythmias in the late period of the disease.

Objective: to comparatively study the time course of clinical, structural, and functional changes in the myocardium in RA patients taking methotrexate (MTX) and a combination of MTX and hydroxychloroquine (HC) during a 4-year follow-up period.

Subjects and methods. Clinical data and echocardiographic, carotid artery ultrasonographic, and Holter electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring readings were analyzed in 83 patients with RA with disease duration of < 10 years, who had received MTX (n = 44) or a combination of MTX and HC (n = 39) for 4 years. RA activity remained low (DAS28 ≤ 3.1) during the follow-up period.

Results and discussion. Over 4 years, the RA patients showed significant increases in left ventricular mass index (from 106.20 [98.14; 112.44] to 114.23 [109.12; 131.19]), in the rate of eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy (from 22.9 to 40.9%), frequent supraventricular extrasystoles (from 13.3 to 22.8%), different types of premature ventricular contractions (from 14.2 to 26.2%), paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia (from 1.2 to 3.6%), intraventricular conduction disturbances (from 3.6 to 14.4%), and first-degree atrioventricular block (from 2.4 to 4.8%), as well as atherosclerotic plaques in the carotid arteries (from 6.0 to 10.8%) (p < 0.05). During combined therapy with MTX and HC, the increase in the rate of eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy, high-grade premature ventricular contractions, and right bundle-branch block was not so great as that during MTX monotherapy (5.1 and 29.6%; 5.1 and 18.2%; 2.6 and 11.4%, respectively).

Conclusion. There is evidence that HC intake has a positive impact on myocardial structural and functional parameters in RA patients.

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