What’s a safe dose of glucocorticoids in RA?
Threshold dose for increased risk of cardiac events pinpointed, researchers say
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who initiate glucocorticoids are at increased risk of a cardiovascular event if their dose is greater than 4mg/day of prednisone, a registry study shows.
The US authors also warn that a cumulative dose of above 750mg prednisone equivalent in the preceding six months, or a cumulative dose of more than 1100mg in a year, raises cardiovascular risk.
Cumulative doses below these levels do not appear to put patients at increased CVD risk, the investigators report in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Data from nearly 20,000 adult patients with RA enrolled in the CorEvitas registry between 2001 and 2018 were examined in the study — giving more than 66,000 patient-years of follow-up.
