Epicardial fat thickness in rheumatoid arthritis: Insights from echocardiographic analysis and autoimmune correlations

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that primarily affects the joints. RA is associated with high cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. One of the new markers of cardiometabolic risk is epicardial fat thickness, the study of EFT in patients with RA and its association with echocardiographic parameters may provide valuable insight into the potential cardiac involvement and overall cardiovascular risk in these patients.

Method: The present study is a cross-sectional study with a comparison group conducted in 2024. The study population included 66 RA patients and 66 healthy participants. Echocardiographic parameters, laboratory data including lipid profile and inflammatory markers, were obtained from the medical record.

Results: Comparison of echocardiographic parameters between RA and healthy participants showed that E parameter and EFT were statistically significant in RA patients. (EFT was 5.22 ± 2.6 in RA patients which in comparison with healthy participant (5.22 ± 2.06) was statistically significant (p-value: <.001)). Also, EFT was correlated with RF, Anti-CCP, ESR, and systolic blood pressure.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first EFT study on RA patients in Iran, which shows a higher EFT in RA patients. High EFT is correlated with more cardiovascular events and is an early sign and independent predictor of atherosclerosis in RA patients, which greatly underlines the importance of cardiovascular assessment in RA patients.