Suppression of inflammatory disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis is associated with improvements in retinal microvascular health

Abstract

© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of suppressing inflammation on retinal microvascular health in patients with RA.METHODS: Two groups of patients with RA were recruited and studied concurrently. Group A included patients with moderate to high disease activity [28-joint DAS with CRP (DAS28-CRP) >3.2] requiring treatment escalation, while group B had stable low disease activity (DAS28-CRP ≤3.2) not requiring treatment escalation. Retinal photography was performed at baseline and weeks 6 and 24 in group A a..