To evaluate left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to determine the impact of biological treatment on LV function in these patients using global circumferential strain (GCS), global longitudinal strain (GLS) and global radial strain (GRS) values assessed by feature tracking cardiac magnetic resonance (FT-CMR) imaging.
Eighty patients with RA and 20 controls without cardiovascular disease underwent non-contrast CMR imaging. Patients with RA received conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) or biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs). Global strains were calculated in 16 LV segments.
No significant differences in cardiovascular risk factors were found between the RA group and controls. GCS was 21% lower in the RA group compared with controls (P < 0.001) and was 14% lower in the csDMARDs group compared with the bDMARDs group (P = 0.002), whereas, there was no significant difference in GLS and GRS between the RA group and the controls. In regard to strain rates, diastolic GCS and GRS rates were significantly lower in the RA group (P < 0.001, 0.011, respectively). In univariate analyses, GCS was significantly associated with the Simplified Disease Activity Index, bDMARDs, swollen joint count, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides antibodies and matrix metalloproteinase-3, but in multivariable analysis, only bDMARDs was significantly associated with GCS (P = 0.021).
Global circumferential strain, GLS and GRS assessed by FT-CMR can reveal subclinical LV dysfunction in patients with RA. Furthermore, they can be used to determine the normalization of LV regional dysfunction induced by bDMARDs possibly related to disease activity reduction.