Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 1, 2026
Comprehensive Echocardiographic Assessment of Right Ventricle Function in a Rat Model of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Published on: January 20, 2023
Effect of hypertension on echocardiographic parameters in rheumatoid arthritis
1Department of Cardiology, School of Medicine, Çanakkale 18 Mart University, 17110, Çanakkale, Turkey, drahmettemiz@yahoo.com.
Insights
Hypertension further worsens cardiovascular health in rheumatoid arthritis patients. It significantly increases carotid intima media thickness, epicardial adipose tissue, and impairs diastolic function.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Rheumatology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and hypertension (HTN) are common conditions.
- Both RA and HTN negatively affect echocardiographic parameters and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the specific impact of hypertension on echocardiographic parameters and CIMT in RA patients.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 77 RA patients, divided into hypertensive (n=39) and non-hypertensive (n=38) groups.
- Echocardiographic parameters including wall thickness, chamber diameter, diastolic function, epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), and CIMT were assessed.
- Groups were compared for echocardiographic and disease characteristics.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in RA characteristics, chamber sizes, or wall thicknesses were observed between groups.
- RA patients with HTN showed significantly increased CIMT (p=0.031) and EAT (p=0.022).
- Septal early diastolic E' wave velocities were significantly decreased in RA patients with HTN (p=0.016), indicating impaired diastolic function.
Conclusions:
- Hypertension exacerbates negative effects on diastolic function, CIMT, and EAT in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
- These findings highlight the increased cardiovascular risk in RA patients with co-existing hypertension.
Objective:
Hypertension (HTN) is common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Both HTN and RA have a negative impact on echocardiographically determined parameters including wall thickness, chamber diameter, diastolic function, epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT). We aimed to demonstrate the effect of HTN on these parameters in RA patients.
Methods:
Patients were divided into two groups: one group comprised 39 RA patients with HTN (7 male, mean age 56.3 ± 8.4 years) and the second comprised 38 age- and gender-matched RA patients without HTN (10 male, mean age 55.3 ± 7.4 years). We retrospectively analyzed the RA patients without overt structural heart disease by determining the study parameters from echocardiograph recordings. The two groups were compared in terms of echocardiographic parameters and disease characteristics.
Results:
RA characteristics, chamber sizes and wall thicknesses did not differ between the groups. CIMT was significantly increased in the RA with HTN group (median 0.9 mm, range 0.6-1.2 mm vs. median 0.8 mm, range 0.6-1.0 mm; p = 0.031). EAT was also significantly increased in the RA with HTN group (8.2 ± 1.8 mm vs. 7.4 ± 1.4 mm; p = 0.022). Septal early diastolic E' wave velocities were significantly decreased in the RA with HTN group (8.8 ± 2.4 cm/s vs. 10.2 ± 1.8 cm/s; p = 0.016).
Conclusion:
HTN has a further negative impact on diastolic functions, CIMT and EAT in RA patients.
Related Concept Videos
01:22Rheumatic Heart Disease II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Studies
01:23Rheumatic Heart Disease I: Introduction
01:20Rheumatic Heart Disease IV: Nursing Management
01:30Hypertension III: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Studies
01:26Heart Failure Drugs: Inhibitors of Renin-Angiotensin System
01:29Hypertension II: Pathophysiology