Arch Gen Intern Med 2017 Volume 1 Issue 3 15 http://www.alliedacademies.org/archives-of-general-internal-medicine/ Research Article ISSN : 2591-7951 Introduction: The risk of cardiovascular disease is increased in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Previous studies have compared cardiovascular disease risk factors between patients with and without rheumatoid arthritis, but none have compared rheumatoid arthritis patients with and without cardiovascular disease. To compare rheumatoid arthritis patients with and without cardiovascular disease in addition to cardiovascular disease patients without rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: Retrospective cross sectional study from 2011-2014 of rheumatology, cardiology, internal medicine, and family medicine clinics at a multi-site academic medical center. Participants: Rheumatoid arthritis patients had the international classifcation of disease code “rheumatoid arthritis”. Cardiovascular disease patients had at least one of following codes: peripheral artery disease, coronary artery disease, diabetes, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, transient ischemic attack, or myocardial infarction. All eligible patients were included in the study. Patients were divided into three groups: 2,305 patients with only rheumatoid arthritis, 276 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease, and 13,473 patients with only cardiovascular disease. Descriptive statistics was performed. Results: Only 11,490 (72%) of patients had a full lipid panel available. However, patients with and without a full lipid panel did not differ in age, gender, smoking status, body mass index, or systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Patients with only rheumatoid arthritis had low density lipoprotein levels 19% higher than patients with rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease (p<0.001, 95% CI: [1.10, 1.28],) and 16% greater than patients with only cardiovascular disease (p<0.001,95% CI: [1.12, 1.20],). Patients with only rheumatoid arthritis also had greater cholesterol and high density lipoprotein levels, but lower triglyceride levels. Conclusion: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis without known cardiovascular disease do not undergo the same aggressive treatment to improve their lipid profle as patients with cardiovascular disease with or without rheumatoid arthritis. Healthcare professionals should proactively screen for cardiovascular disease in all rheumatoid arthritis patients. Abstract Introduction Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic infammatory autoimmune disease that causes arthritis with joint destruction. RA occurs in about one percent of the population, most commonly around age 30-50, and affects twice as many females as males [1]. The top cause of mortality among RA patients is Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) [2,3], which occurs on average 10 years earlier in RA patients than in the general population [4]. Even when traditional risk factors such as hypertension, tobacco abuse, diabetes, and dyslipidemia are accounted for, there is still an elevated CVD risk associated with having RA [5,6]. This increased risk of CVD in RA patients is likely due to both the systemic infammation that occurs in RA and the earlier occurrence of traditional CVD risk factors [7]. Because of the increased CVD risk in RA patients, it is also recommended that RA patients undergo CVD risk assessment and management according to established guidelines despite the patients’ age [8,9]. CVD risk is associated with an observed increase in low density lipoprotein (LDL-cholesterol) levels and subsequently low high density lipoprotein (HDL-cholesterol) levels; infammatory responses in RA cause patients have a low HDL- cholesterol as seen with CVD patients, but paradoxically a low LDL-cholesterol, as well [10]. This pattern has also been seen in other chronic infammatory diseases such as sepsis and cancer [11] and several studies have even found continued increases in lipid levels in RA patients after reduction in disease activity with treatment [12]. The mechanisms which explain this pattern are not fully understood, but may include up regulation of the reticuloendothelial system increasing LDL clearance and reduced low-density lipoprotein particle synthesis [10]. Assessment of cardiovascular disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Daniel Li 1 , Alex Meara 2 , Brian LaMoreaux 2 , Guy Brock 3 , Wael Jarjour 2 1 College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, USA 2 Department of Rheumatology, Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University, USA 3 Department of Biomedical Informatics and Center for Biostatistics, Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University, USA Accepted on August 30, 2017 Keywords: Rheumatology, Arthritis, Cardiovascular disease, Chronic disease.