Abstract
Different techniques have proven to be useful in determining the presence of subclinical cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Doppler imaging with iontophoresis of acetylcholine and flow-mediated, endothelium-dependent vasodilation give information on endothelial dysfunction, an early step in the atherogenesis process. However, there is no good correlation between these two surrogate markers of cardiovascular disease in RA. A single determination of routine laboratory markers of inflammation does not seem to relate to endothelial function in RA. Further research is needed to determine whether microvascular endothelial function is a better predictor of cardiovascular outcome than macrovascular endothelial function in patients with RA.