Early signs of myocardial dysfunction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis

The objective of the study – identify early preclinical signs of myocardial dysfunction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.
Material and methods. We examined 142 people with verified rheumatic diseases. All patients were divided into 2 groups. The first group consisted of patients with rheumatoid arthritis – 95 people. The second group – patients with ankylosing spondylitis – 47 people. The control group included 70 practically healthy individuals. In addition to standard diagnostic tests, all patients underwent tissue dopplerography of the heart using the GE Vivid E9 ultrasound device using the two-dimensional deformation technique (speckle tracking) to assess the deformation and rate of myocardial deformation, as well as determining the level of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in the blood serum.
Results. Among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, diastolic dysfunction of both the left ventricle and both ventricles was more common than in the control group. The same pattern was observed in the group with ankylosing spondylitis. The calculation of the relative risk showed that the presence of rheumatoid arthritis in 4,42 times increases the risk of diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle in comparison with practically healthy people (CI 1,6–12,2). In individuals with rheumatoid arthritis also results in a deterioration of systolic function of both ventricles. The level of matrix metalloproteinase metalloproteinase-9 was highest and most often increased in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the average level of metalloproteinase-9 was low, but the incidence was higher than in the control group. The obtained results indicate that in these rheumatic diseases there is a marked degradation of the extracellular matrix components.
Conclusion. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis are characterized by a deterioration in the diastolic function of the left ventricle or both ventricles simultaneously, which is accompanied by an increase in the level of metalloproteinase-9.

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