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Objective To determine the prevalence and correlates of subclinical myocardial inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods RA patients (n = 119) without known cardiovascular disease underwent cardiac 18‐fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography with computed tomography (PET‐CT). Myocardial FDG uptake was assessed visually and measured quantitatively as the standardized uptake value (SUV). Multivariable linear regression was used to assess the associations of patient characteristics with myocardial SUVs. A subset of RA patients who had to escalate their disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy (n = 8) underwent a second FDG PET‐CT scan after 6 months, to assess treatment‐associated changes in myocardial FDG uptake. Results Visually assessed FDG uptake was observed in 46 (39%) of the 119 RA patients, and 21 patients (18%) had abnormal quantitatively assessed myocardial FDG uptake (i.e., mean of the mean SUV [SUVmean] ≥3.10 units; defined as 2 SD above the value in a reference group of 27 non‐RA subjects). The SUVmean was 31% higher in patients with a Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) score of ≥10 (moderate‐to‐high disease activity) as compared with those with lower CDAI scores (low disease activity or remission) (P = 0.005), after adjustment for potential confounders. The adjusted SUVmean was 26% lower among those treated with a non–tumor necrosis factor–targeted biologic agent compared with those treated with conventional (nonbiologic) DMARDs (P = 0.029). In the longitudinal substudy, the myocardial SUVmean decreased from 4.50 units to 2.30 units over 6 months, which paralleled the decrease in the mean CDAI from a score of 23 to a score of 12. Conclusion Subclinical myocardial inflammation is frequent in patients with RA, is associated with RA disease activity, and may decrease with RA therapy. Future longitudinal studies will be required to assess whether reduction in myocardial inflammation will reduce heart failure risk in RA.

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Continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs) are increasingly used in advanced heart failure patients. Recent studies suggest that low socioeconomic status (SES) predicts worst survival after heart transplantation. Both individual-level and neighborhood-level SES (nSES) have been linked to cardiovascular health; however, the impact of SES in CF-LVAD patients remains unknown. We hypothesized that SES is a major determinant of CF-LVAD candidacy and postimplantation outcomes. A retrospective chart review was conducted on 362 patients between February 2009 and May 2016. Neighborhood-level SES was measured using the American Community Survey data and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality SES index score. Individual-level SES was self reported. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression determined survival statistics. Patients in the highest SES tertile were older (58 ± 13 vs. 53 ± 14; p < 0.001), less likely to be black or Hispanic (26% vs. 70%; p < 0.001), more likely to be married (87% vs. 65%; p < 0.001), more likely to have private insurance (50% vs. 39%; p < 0.001), and more likely to have employment (29% vs. 15%; p < 0.001) compared with patients in the lowest tertile. Low nSES was associated with a decreased risk of death (hazard ratio [HR], 0.580; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.347–0.970; p = 0.038) in comparison to the high nSES. However, after adjusting for baseline clinical morbidities, the relationship was no longer present. When selecting patients for a LVAD, SES should not be thought of as an immutable risk factor. Carefully selected low-SES patients could be safely implanted with CF-LVAD with outcomes comparable to high-SES patients.

Red cell distribution width (RDW) measures the variance in size of circulating red blood cells and is a strong independent predictor of morbidity and mortality in cardiovascular disease and heart failure. Predictive power of RDW on mortality after continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) implantation remains largely unknown. Four hundred nine patients who underwent CF-LVAD implantation between April 2004 and December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The primary outcome of interest was 90 day mortality after CF-LVAD implantation. Median RDW before CF-LVAD implantation was 15.8%. Patients with elevated RDW (>15.8%) at baseline had significantly lower hemoglobin (10.6 ± 1.8 vs. 11.9 ± 2.1 mg/dl; p < 0.001), lower mean corpuscular volume (84.9 ± 7.7. vs. 88.7 ± 5.9; p < 0.001), higher blood urea nitrogen (BUN; 36.3 ± 21.8 vs. 30.1 ± 17.1; p < 0.001), lower albumin (3.4 ± 0.6 vs. 3.7 ± 0.5; p < 0.001), and higher total bilirubin levels (1.67 ± 2.21 vs. 1.29 ± 0.96). Red cell distribution width was independently predictive of 90 day mortality (odds ratio [OR], 1.16 for 1% increase; CI, 1.04-1.31; p = 0.010). Discriminatory power of RDW alone was comparable to model of end-stage liver disease excluding INR (MELD-Xi) and HeartMate II risk scores. Mechanical unloading with CF-LVAD was associated with a reduction in RDW levels. These findings suggest that RDW, a simple and inexpensive test available through routine complete blood count, can be successfully used for mortality risk assessment in CF-LVAD candidates.