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Table 1 Patient characteristics

From: Inflammatory cell infiltrates in the heart of patients with coronary artery disease with and without inflammatory rheumatic disease: a biopsy study

Characteristics IRD (n = 48) Non-IRD (n = 40) p Value
Age, years, mean ± SD 66 ± 10 66 ± 11 0.85
Male sex, n (%) 28 (58) 27 (68) 0.45
Duration of CAD, months, median (IQR) 24 (81) 32 (119) 0.39
History of myocardial infarction, n (%) 30 (63) 19 (48) 0.17
Number of myocardial infarctions, mean ± SD 0.8 ± 0.9 0.6 ± 0.8 0.28
NYHA class, mean ± SD 2.9 ± 0.7 2.6 ± 0.6 0.04
Number of coronary arteries with significant stenosis, mean ± SD 2.7 ± 0.6 2.6 ± 0.7 0.44
Acute coronary syndrome, n (%) 12 (25) 10 (25) 0.90
Left ventricular ejection fraction, mean ± SD 64 ± 12 65 ± 11 0.52
Previous heart surgery, n (%) 1 (2.1) 0 (0) 0.73
Positive family history of CAD,a n (%) 33 (69) 31 (78) 0.41
C-reactive protein, mg/L, median (IQR) 4.9 (10.5) 2.1 (2.6) <0.001
ESR, mm/h, median (IQR) 23 (28) 13 (17) 0.003
Troponin I, ng/ml, median (IQR) 0.06 (0.11) 0.01 (0.04) 0.01
Body mass index, kg/m2, mean ± SD 25 ± 4 26 ± 3 0.58
Hypertension, n (%) 28 (58) 20 (50) 0.46
Current smoker, n (%) 13 (27) 7 (18) 0.26
Previous smoking, n (%) 18 (38) 18 (45) 0.45
Diabetes mellitus, n (%) 6 (13) 5 (13) 0.87
Hypercholesterolemia, n (%) 40 (83) 36 (90) 0.45
Acetylsalicylic acid, n (%) 43 (90) 35 (88) 0.88
ACE inhibitors, n (%) 15 (31) 12 (30) 0.91
Statins, n (%) 37 (77) 32 (80) 0.70
Beta blockers, n (%) 36 (75) 31 (78) 0.71
Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs,b n (%) 16 (33) 0 (0) <0.001
Systemic glucocorticosteroids, n (%) 19 (40) 0 (0) <0.001
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, n (%) 6 (13) 0 (0) 0.018
Cyclooxygenase 2 selective inhibitors, n (%) 8 (17) 0 (0) 0.004
Duration of IRD, years, mean ± SD 17 ± 12 NA NA
Patient’s global assessment of disease activity,c mean ± SD 3.1 ± 2.5 NA NA
Physician’s global assessment of disease activity,c mean ± SD 1.4 ± 1.3 NA NA
  1. Abbreviations: NA Not applicable, CAD coronary artery disease, IRD inflammatory rheumatic disease, NYHA New York Heart Association, ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate, ACE angiotensin-converting enzyme, IQR interquartile range
  2. Owing to missing data for some variables, numbers may not add up to the expected total
  3. aCAD in first-degree relatives younger than age 65 years
  4. bMethotrexate (n = 6), sulfasalazine (n = 4), hydroxychloroquine (n = 1), azathioprine (n = 1), leflunomide (n = 1), etanercept and methotrexate (n = 1), podofyllotoxine derivatives (CPH-82) (n = 1), hydroxychloroquine and sulfasalazine (n = 1)
  5. cOn a 10-cm visual analogue scale
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