Myocardial ischemia in female patients with rheumatoid arthritis assessed with single photon emission tomography-myocardial perfusion imaging.

Non-specific cardiac symptoms in female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) could indicate early cardiovascular disease.Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), with 99mTc tetrofosmin stress-rest single photon emission computer tomography (SPECT), in 13 RA female patients with atypical cardiac symptoms, was compared to 44 weight- and age-matched females with similar cardiac complaints (control group). Smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus,...