PERICARDITIS IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Background : Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the joints, and extra-articular features are also very common . RA is associated with an increased mortality , the majority of which is originating from cardiovascular diseases . The most common cardiac involvement in RA is pericarditis . Varying the method of assessment pericarditis occurs in 30–50% of the patients. Objective : To study prevalence of pericarditis in Rheumatoid arthritis patients , by echocardiography Methods: A Prospective observational study , conducted in department of general medicine GMC Srinagar , from 2016 to 2018. 110 patients of rheumatoid arthritis were enrolled in this study. Results : Out of 110 patients , 49 % had some form of heart involvement , pericardial effusion was present in 9.1 % of patients. Female to male ratio was 3.6:1 , there were 24 (22%) males and 86 (78%) females, there was no significant relationship between gender and abnormal echocardiography findings in RA patients (p > 0.05) Conclusion : Prevalence of pericarditis was present in only 9.1% patients in our study , which is less compared to the previous studies. It is most likely because our patient