Cardio-Rheumatology

About Cardio-Rheumatology

Patients with systemic rheumatic diseases have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular complications. These include vascular damage with accelerated atherosclerosis, myocardial and pericardial involvement, valvular abnormalities, arrhythmias, and heart failure.

In this FOCUS, we address the unmet need for cardiovascular prevention in patients with rheumatologic disorders

People living with inflammatory joint diseases face a cardiovascular risk that is comparable to that of diabetes. This risk is driven by the cumulative inflammatory burden over time, which accelerates the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Despite this, awareness of the increased risk remains low among both patients and healthcare professionals. There is a clear need for more targeted information and closer cooperation between cardiologists and rheumatologists to address this gap. Currently, cardiovascular prevention is not sufficiently prioritised in this high-risk group, and there is an urgent need for improvement.

Standard cardiovascular risk calculators do not accurately predict future risk in patients with inflammatory joint diseases. Even when lipid levels are low, these patients remain at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Lipid-lowering and anti-hypertensive treatments are straightforward to use and do not cause more side effects than in the general population. Baseline lipid levels, inflammatory status, and anti-rheumatic medication do not affect the dose of lipid-lowering treatment needed to reach recommended targets. Anti-inflammatory medications, PCSK9 inhibitors and GLP1AS are promising in ASCVD treatment, but more evidence is needed in patients with inflammatory joint diseases.

Explore the cardio-rheumatology resources, which include ESC Guidelines and congress presentations, below.