Speckle tracking can detect subclinical myocardial dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Introduction: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have shorter life expectancy and their risk of cardiovascular death is more than 50 % higher than the rest of the population. Early myocardial dysfunction in RA patients may be detectable sooner using speckle‑tracking echocardiography.

Method: Cross-sectional study enrolled 55 patients with RA (mean age 44.