The heart in rheumatoid arthritis--a clinical and echocardiographic study.

A clinical and echocardiographic study was carried out in a randomly selected group of 101 patients with rheumatoid arthritis to determine the prevalence of cardiac abnormalities. Adequate two-dimensional assessments were obtained in 84 patients and 77 patients had adequate M mode recordings. Thirty-one patients (37 per cent) had 45 echocardiographic abnormalities. Five patients (6 per cent) had a pericardial effusion. Eleven abnormalities of the mitral valve were noted in 10 patients (13 per cent). Three patients had mitral valve prolapse, one patient with aortic incompetence had flutter on the mitral valve, five patients had mitral annular calcium and one patient had hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and mitral annular calcification. A reduction in the E-F slope was noted in 12 patients, seven of whom had associated cardiac disease, one patient had a sinus tachycardia and four patients (5 per cent) had a mild reduction without any other cardiac abnormality. Apart from the presence of pericardial effusion in 6 per cent and minor abnormalities of the E-F slope in 5 per cent of patients, all the other significant echocardiographic abnormalities could be related to the presence of associated cardiac disease.