Rheumatoid Arthritis Alone is Not a Risk for Post-Op CV Events Save

Using hospitalization claims from 7 states, reasearchers studied the risk of cardiovascular outcomes following surgery in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.  (Citation source http://buff.ly/1TDsVG6)

Examining 67,000 patients: with RA and without RA, they compared rates of cardiovascular complications, such as cardiac arrest and heart attack, for patients with and without RA. They also compared the risk of thromboembolic, or blood clot-related, complications; microcirculatory complications, such as kidney failure or wound-healing problems; and death in the hospital. The researchers hypothesized that some or all of these surgical risks would be higher in the RA group.

Overall, RA did not have exhibit higher rates of adverse outcomes. Cardiovascular complications occurred in 1.64 percent of RA patients compared to 1.50 percent of controls without RA. Rates of in-hospital death were 1.44 and 1.28 percent, respectively. Similarly there was here were no significant differences in the odds of in-hospital thromboembolic complications (1.03 [0.93-1.15]; P = 0.42), in-hospital microcirculatory complications (0.94 [0.86-1.01]; P = 0.03), or in-hospital mortality (1.11 [0.98-1.25]; P = 0.04).

Hence, Rheumatoid arthritis was not associated with an increased risk for postoperative cardiovascular complications.