[Cardiovascular diseases in rheumatoid arthritis]

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are serious complications in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in its high morbidity and mortality. The risk of coronary artery disease (CAD)has been reported to relate to RA disease activity. By improvement of treatment agents and treatment strategy aiming remission or low disease activity of RA, the incidence of CAD can be decreasing. The cardiovascular morbidity may be attributed to other types of CVD such as large vessel diseases, microvascular myocardial dysfunction or arrhythmia in addition to CAD. To improve quality of life and mortality of RA patients, physicians should treat patients to prevent cardiovascular morbidity through RA disease control.