Carotid Ultrasound-Based Strategy for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Inflammatory Rheumatic Disease (PREVENER)

Background:

Patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases (RA, PsA, AxSpA, SLE) carry a significantly increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular events compared to the general population. This excess risk is largely attributed to the pro-atherogenic effect of chronic inflammation. Despite this, conventional CV risk stratification tools such as SCORE2/OP do not account for inflammation-related risk, leading to systematic underestimation of CV risk in these patients. Data from the CARMA project demonstrated that 53% of CV events in Spanish patients with IRD occurred in those classified as low-to-moderate risk by SCORE2/OP, highlighting the urgent need for improved risk stratification strategies.

Carotid ultrasound for the detection of subclinical atherosclerosis (carotid plaques) has been proposed as a modifier of CV risk in the ESC 2021 guidelines. The presence of carotid plaques automatically reclassifies individuals to very high CV risk, warranting intensive lipid-lowering therapy. However, no randomized clinical trial has evaluated the efficacy of this strategy in patients with IRD.

Study Design:

PREVENER is an open-label, randomized, multicenter, phase IV clinical trial. Patients aged ≥50 years with IRD (RA by ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria, PsA by CASPAR criteria, AxSpA by ASAS criteria, or SLE by ACR/EULAR 2019 criteria) and low-to-moderate CV risk according to SCORE2/OP will be enrolled across 17 Spanish hospitals.

Eligible patients will be randomized 1:1 to:

• Experimental group: carotid ultrasound performed within 30 days of randomization. Patients with carotid plaques (defined by Mannheim consensus criteria) will be classified as very high CV risk and initiated on high-intensity statin therapy (LDL target <55 mg/dL). Patients without plaques will be managed according to ESC 2021 guidelines.
• Control group: standard management according to ESC 2021 guidelines throughout the study.

Randomization will be performed using REDCap, stratified by age, sex, classic CV risk factors, lipid-lowering treatment, rheumatic disease, and advanced therapy use.

Primary Endpoint:

Incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as: acute myocardial infarction or stroke, hospitalization for unstable angina, arterial revascularization for peripheral arterial disease, or CV death.

Secondary Endpoints:

• Efficacy of the strategy analyzed individually by rheumatic disease (RA, PsA, AxSpA)
• Comparison of efficacy between men and women
• Safety comparison of adverse events between groups

Follow-up:

All patients will be followed for 48 months. Patients on lipid-lowering treatment will have monthly visits during the intensification phase (maximum 5 visits) until therapeutic target is achieved, followed by semi-annual visits until month 48. Patients not requiring lipid-lowering treatment will have semi-annual visits throughout.

Statistical Analysis:

The primary analysis will follow an intention-to-treat approach. Cox regression models will be used to calculate Hazard Ratios with 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for relevant covariates. Kaplan-Meier survival curves will be compared using the log-rank test. A sample size of 1,944 patients provides 80% power to detect a 50% reduction in CV events in the experimental group (alpha=0.05). An interim analysis will be performed at 50% of expected events using the O'Brien-Fleming stopping rule, reviewed by an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB).

Inclusion criteria

• Patients aged ≥50 years who have provided written informed consent.
• Fulfillment of classification criteria for at least one of the following inflammatory rheumatic diseases:

• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) according to ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria
• Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) according to CASPAR criteria
• Axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) according to ASAS criteria
• Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) according to ACR/EULAR 2019 criteria
• Low-to-moderate cardiovascular risk according to SCORE2/OP classification.

Exclusion criteria

• Presence of previous cardiovascular events, type 2 diabetes mellitus, familial hypercholesterolemia, or chronic kidney disease resulting in classification as high or very high cardiovascular risk.
• Prior carotid ultrasound examination with subsequent therapeutic intervention derived from its results, either in the context of a research study or routine clinical practice.
• Contraindications to lipid-lowering therapy, including recent history of alcoholism, active liver disease, or unexplained and persistent elevation of serum transaminases exceeding three times the upper limit of normal (applicable to statins and ezetimibe).