Cardio-Rheumatology Insights Into Hypertension: Intersection of Inflammation, Arteries, and Heart.

There is an increased prevalence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriatic arthritis, and systemic sclerosis. The mechanism for the development of ASCVD in these conditions has been linked not only to a higher prevalence and undertreatment of traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors but importantly to chronic inflammation and a dysregulated immune system which contribute to impaired endothelial and microvascular function, factors that may contribute to accelerated atherosclerosis. Accurate ASCVD risk stratification and optimal risk management remain challenging in this population with many barriers that include lack of validated risk calculators, the remitting and relapsing nature of underlying disease, deleterious effect of medications used to manage rheumatic diseases, multimorbidity, decreased mobility due to joint pain, and lack of clarity about who bears the responsibility of performing CV risk assessment and management (rheumatologist vs.

Derivation and Internal Validation of a Disease-Specific Cardiovascular Risk Prediction Model for Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis and Psoriasis.

Objective: To address suboptimal cardiovascular risk prediction in patients with psoriatic disease (PsD), we developed and internally validated a five-year disease-specific cardiovascular risk prediction model.

Methods: We analyzed data from a prospective cohort of participants with PsD without a history of cardiovascular events. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors and PsD-related measures of disease activity were considered as potential predictors.

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging T1 and T2 Mapping in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Relation to Antimalarial Treatment.

Purpose: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are at risk of cardiac disease including antimalarial-induced cardiomyopathy (AMIC). The purpose of this study is to evaluate cardiac magnetic resonance imaging parametric mapping findings in SLE patients with AMIC and investigate the relationship of T1/T2 mapping to antimalarial (AM) treatment duration.

Materials And Methods: All patients with SLE who had undergone cardiac magnetic resonance imaging with T1/T2 mapping for evaluation of suspected cardiac disease between 2018 and 2021 were evaluated and compared with healthy controls.

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Clinical Follow-up in Antimalarial-induced Cardiomyopathy in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Antimalarial-induced cardiomyopathy is under-recognized in clinical practice and there is limited data on the evolution of cardiac imaging abnormalities after cessation of anti-malarial therapy. In this case series of 9 patients with antimalarial-induced cardiomyopathy, follow-up cardiac magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated interval increase in late gadolinium enhancement extent in 89% of patients and interval decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction in all, despite cessation of anti-malarial therapy. Progression of cardiac abnormalities despite cessation of therapy underscores the important role of imaging in the early recognition of antimalarial-related treatment changes.

Visual Ordinal Scoring of Coronary Artery Calcium on Contrast-Enhanced and Noncontrast Chest CT: A Retrospective Study of Diagnostic Performance and Prognostic Utility.

Current guidelines recommend visual evaluation of coronary artery calcium (CAC) on all nongated noncontrast chest CT examinations. However, chest CT examinations are often performed with contrast material administration. The purpose of our study was to evaluate diagnostic performance, prognostic utility, and interobserver agreement of visual CAC assessment on chest CT performed for other indications.