The risk of venous thromboembolism in rheumatoid arthritis.

ReviewRheumatology (Oxford, England)· Jul 2026

The risk of venous thromboembolism in rheumatoid arthritis.

Tamara Vojinovic, Johan Askling, Aleksandra Antovic

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Venous ThromboembolismReviewQ4IF 0.2

Rheumatoid arthritis is linked to 50-100% higher risk of venous thromboembolism.

The risk of venous thromboembolism in rheumatoid arthritis.

Tamara Vojinovic … Aleksandra Antovic

Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · Jul 2026

Background

Rheumatoid arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis) is associated with a markedly increased risk of venous thromboembolism (venous thromboembolism), reflecting a complex interplay between chronic inflammation, immune dysregulation, and hemostatic imbalance.

50-100%

Results

50-100%

rheumatoid arthritis raises blood clot risk well above the general population

More results

Rheumatoid arthritis-specific factors such as disease activity, seropositivity, disability and treatment exposures further modify thrombotic risk; some targeted therapies may amplify the risk in a subset of patients.

More results

Despite these insights, current venous thromboembolism risk stratification and prevention strategies are extrapolated from the general population and fail to incorporate rheumatoid arthritis-specific factors.

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Conclusion

Improved understanding of the reason(s) behind the increased venous thromboembolism risks reported with certain immune-modulatory drugs, and development of integrated clinical and biomarker-based stratification tools, are therefore both essential to enable effective thromboprophylaxis in rheumatoid arthritis.

The risk of venous thromboembolism in rheumatoid arthritis.

The risk of venous thromboembolism in rheumatoid arthritis.

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