Rheumatoid arthritis and thrombosis.

OBJECTIVE To review prevalence, risk factors and mechanisms of thrombosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Available medical literature on PubMed was reviewed and relevant information summarized. RESULTS Patients affected by RA present an increased risk of thromboembolism, an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Research is focused on the role of disease-associated risk factors and predisposing conditions such as endothelial dysfunction, hypercoagulability, pro-thrombotic conditions, inflammatory markers, immobility and complications following major knee or hip replacement. CONCLUSION Thrombosis is a possible manifestation in RA patients. A number of factors are suspected to play a role in the increased thromboembolic risk. The mechanisms responsible for thrombosis in these patients remain unclear, however, the identification of the thrombophilic risk factors is clinically useful to determine in which patients occurrence is more likely.