Autoimmune rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic sclerosis (SSc) and others have been associated with increased cardiovascular (CV) risk, morbidity and mortality [1–5]. Both traditional and inflammatory risk factors have been implicated in the development of accelerated atherosclerosis and vascular pathologies in these conditions [1–3,5,6]. Systemic inflammation, disease activity and flares are major drivers of subclinical and then clinical atherosclerosis, acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and overt CV disease (CVD) [1–3,5,7,8].
