Evaluation of risk factors for atherosclerosis using carotid ultrasonography in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Aim Previous studies have reported that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) than the general population. A major cause of CVD is atherosclerosis, which can be evaluated with carotid ultrasonography (US). As far as we know, there have been no large‐scale carotid artery US studies in Japanese patients with RA. The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors for...