AB0332 Echocardiographic Assessment of Ambulatory Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients with and without Periodontitis

Background Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects 1% of the world's population. Patients with RA are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and they have lower survivals rates than the general population mainly due to an accelerated atherosclerosis caused by inflammatory mechanisms. Periodontitis (PO) is frequent in patients with RA and is also associated with systemic inflammation. The coexistence of both processes could potentiate the cardiovascular impact of RA. Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate systolic and diastolic cardiac function by echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging in patients with RA with and without PO. Methods Patients with diagnosis of RA (ACR/EULAR, 2010) were included. Exclusion criteria were atrial fibrillation and known structural heart disease of any etiology. All patients underwent odontologic evaluation, 2D echocardiography, echo-Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging following recommendations of the American Society of Echocardiography. Patients were classified into 3 groups according to the presence of PO (G1: no PO, G2: mild PO, G3: moderate/severe PO). Categorical variables were compared with χ2 test and continuous variables were compared with ANOVA. A p