RT Book, Section A1 Roldan, Carlos A. A2 Crawford, Michael H. SR Print(0) ID 1198116281 T1 Connective Tissue Diseases & the Heart T2 Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Cardiology, 6e YR 2023 FD 2023 PB McGraw Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781264643578 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1198116281 RD 2024/03/29 AB The connective tissue diseases are immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, primarily of the musculoskeletal system; however, they frequently also involve the cardiovascular system. The most important of these diseases are systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, ankylosing spondylitis, polymyositis/dermatomyositis, and mixed connective tissue disease. They affect the endocardium including the valve leaflets, myocardium, coronary arteries, conduction system, and great vessels with different rates of prevalence and degrees of severity. Although heart involvement in patients with connective tissue diseases contributes significantly to their morbidity and mortality rates, there is a large discrepancy between clinically recognized heart disease, echocardiography studies, and postmortem series. Furthermore, their pathogenesis and natural history are still incompletely understood and their therapy is not yet standardized. Increased awareness and better understanding of the cardiovascular diseases associated with connective tissue diseases may lead to earlier recognition and treatment with consequent decreased morbidity and mortality. Finally, and of importance, patients with connective tissue diseases and associated heart disease should be consulted and managed by a heart team (including a cardiologist with imaging expertise, an interventional cardiologist, and in selected cases a cardiothoracic surgeon) and rheumatologists given the potential morbidity and mortality of their heart disease and the complexity and potential benefits, but also potential harm of their pharmacotherapy and cardiac interventions.