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A special type of ultrasound - speckle-tracking echocardiography -can detect potentially fatal heart complications in rheumatoidarthritis patients , researchers from the Mayo Clinic, USA, reported at the EuropeanLeague Against Rheumatism annual meeting in Berlin, Germany. Theresearchers explained that individuals with rheumatoid arthritis have a higher chance of developing heart disease , and for them early intervention is vital. However, riskassessment tools currently used by doctors tend to underestimatethe danger. Senior researcher, Sherine Gabriel, M.D., explained that speckle-tracking echocardiography shows promise as an effective way of screening rheumatoidarthritis patients for cardiovascular disease. Dr. Gabriel said: "The challenge that we've had in our studies, and other people havehad as well, is identifying patients with rheumatoid arthritisearly enough so that we can intervene, before the symptoms becomeclinically apparent. So before they have a heart attack , before they have heart failure , so that we can identify those high-risk patients early, at a timewhen we can make a difference." The immune system of patients with rheumatoid arthritis attackstissue, inflames joints and sometimes affects other organs too. AMayo Clinic study that was recently published found that theFramingham and Reynolds risk scores, two commonly utilized heartdisease risk assessment tools, frequently underestimate the dangerrheumatoid arthritis patients face. Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis are in danger of twocardiovascular conditions; the type of heart disease that causesheart attacks to occur, and the type that causes heart failure,according to Dr. Gabriel. Gabriel and team are working to create amore accurate and effective risk assessment tool. Meanwhile,however, they say the echocardiogram findings are a step in theright direction. In this study, involving 100 patients with rheumatoid arthritis andno cardiovascular disease diagnosis, as well as 50 others with noheart disease or rheumatoid arthritis, those with rheumatoidarthritis where shown to have cardiac impairments when scanned withthe speckle-tracking echocardiography. The healthy cohorts showedno such impairments. Dr. Gabriel added that the impairment found in the arthriticpatients had a unique pattern - a sign that could be used toindicate heart disease before any clinical signs become apparent. Dr. Gabriel said: "It's potentially part of the answer. Our research team here atMayo is working to identify better ways to predict heart disease inpersons with rheumatoid arthritis, including developing better riskscores, imaging tests and perhaps better blood tests. We're also evaluating a number of immunological blood tests thatcould help us identify patients early, and exploring better imagingapproaches like myocardial strain that can help us identifypatients with RA who have heart problems as early as possible." Written by Christian Nordvist Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Additional References Citations. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China 2.0 Multimedia Speakers , China Dual USB Power Bank, and more. For more , please visit 2.4G Wireless Optical Mouse today!
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