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ABSTRACT. Objective. Although heart failure (HF) is a major cause of premature mortality, there is little information regarding its prevalence and associated risk factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of HF in a community-based RA cohort. Further, we investigated the effect of RA activity and present treatment on HF rate and cardiac structure. Methods. A diagnostic workup for HF according to the European Society of Cardiology recommendations was performed in 157 patients with RA fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism criteria (68% women, age 61 ± 13 yrs) from our outpatient clinic and in 77 age-and sex-matched controls