[Unusual case of pseudotumoral hip injury due to gout: case report]. / Caso inusual de lesión pseudotumoral en cadera por gota: reporte de caso.

Background: Gout is known as arthropathy due to the deposit of monosodium urate crystals; This pathology comprises a set of clinical and radiographic tests in the context of the intra-articular presence of said crystals. It is a chronic disease associated with other comorbidities such as arterial hypertension, osteoarthritis, diabetes mellitus, etc. The case of a patient with gouty arthritis with consequent hip lesion with a pseudotumoral appearance difficult to diagnose is presented, in order to highlight the importance of this, as well as the appropriate follow-up and treatment for this chronic pathology. Clinical case: A 51-year-old male patient, with a history of hip osteoarthritis and gout. The symptoms and signs were pain in the right hip with an 8/10 on an analogue pain scale, associated with functional limitation characterized by reduced range of motion and impossibility of standing. Imaging studies are carried out which are suggestive of a tumor lesion at the proximal femur with malignant characteristics, for which a biopsy and subsequent histopathological diagnosis of gouty tophi is performed. Conclusions: Gout is a prevalent disease in the adult population, however, its infrequent joint location can result in a difficult diagnosis, so it is necessary not to rule out this entity and to carry out specific studies for its identification.

Introducción: se conoce como gota a la artropatía por depósito de cristales de urato monosódico. Esta patología comprende un conjunto de hallazgos clínicos y radiográficos en el contexto de presencia intraarticular de dichos cristales. Es una enfermedad crónica asociada a otras comorbilidades como: hipertensión arterial, osteoartrosis, diabetes mellitus, etc. Se presenta el caso de un paciente con artritis gotosa con consecuente lesión en cadera, con aspecto pseudotumoral de difícil diagnóstico, a fin de resaltar su importancia, así como el seguimiento y tratamiento oportunos para esta patología crónica. Caso clínico: paciente hombre de 51 años, con antecedentes de artritis gotosa; quien cursa con cuadro clínico de, aproximadamente, cuatro años de evolución, caracterizado por dolor en cadera derecha de intensidad 8/10 en escala análoga del dolor, sin irradiación, asociado a limitación funcional caracterizada por reducción de arcos de movilidad e imposibilidad para la bipedestación. Se realizan estudios imagenológicos los cuales son sugestivos de lesión tumoral a nivel de fémur proximal de características de malignidad, por lo cual se realiza biopsia y posterior diagnóstico histopatológico de tofos gotosos. Conclusiones: la gota es una enfermedad prevalente en la población adulta, sin embargo, la localización articular infrecuente puede resultar en un difícil diagnóstico, por lo que se requiere no descartar esta entidad y la realización de estudios específicos para su identificación.

Non-loading versus loading low-dose colchicine in acute crystal-associated arthritis: A double-blinded randomized controlled study.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to compare the efficacy of non-loading versus loading low-dose colchicine in patients with acute crystal-associated arthritis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All in-patients who were admitted to Chiang Mai University Hospital with non-arthritis disease and developed acute crystal-associated arthritis during admission (within 48 h after arthritis onset) were invited to join this study. The patients were randomized into two groups. Patients in Group I (non-loading group) and Group II (loading group) received colchicine at 1.2 and 2.4 mg in the first 24 h, respectively. The primary outcome was the patients' pain response at 24 h after treatment. RESULTS: Of 80 patients, 49 were acute gouty arthritis, and 31 acute calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) arthritis. The mean [95% CI] pain score was no different between Groups I and II at the baseline level (6.46[5.72-7.19] vs. 6.654[5.85-7.44], p = .867) and at 24 h (3.13[2.43-3.82] vs. 3.18[2.42-3.93], p = .907). The proportion of patients with ≥50% pain reduction was not different (57.50% vs. 55.00%, p = .822). Sensitivity analysis among patients with a baseline pain score of ≥4 showed the same pattern of response. Mild diarrhea was common and comparable in both groups. Subgroup analysis according to renal function (eGFR < 60 vs. ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2 ) or type of crystals (acute gouty arthritis vs. acute CPP arthritis) also showed the same pattern of response. CONCLUSION: Non-loading low-dose colchicine was as effective as loading low-dose colchicine in patients with acute crystal-associated arthritis, regardless of renal function or type of crystals.

Prednisolone Versus Colchicine for Acute Gout in Primary Care (COPAGO): protocol for a two-arm multicentre, pragmatic, prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial of prednisolone and colchicine for non-inferiority with a parallel group design.

BACKGROUND: Gout is the most common form of rheumatic disease in which monosodium urate crystals are deposited in the joints followed by acute inflammatory reactions. There are various approved drugs that can be prescribed for pain relief during an acute gout attack. However, to date, no direct comparison of efficacy of colchicine and prednisolone for the treatment of acute gout attacks has been investigated. Furthermore, the majority of previous research studies were not only conducted in tertiary centres but also excluded patients with common comorbidities due to contraindications to naproxen. METHODS: This pragmatic, prospective, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group, randomized, non-inferiority trial investigates whether prednisolone (intervention) is non-inferior to treatment with colchicine (active control) in patients with acute gout. Adult patients presenting with acute gout to their general practitioners in 60 practices across 3 university sites (Greifswald, Göttingen, and Würzburg) are eligible to participate in the study. Participants in the intervention group receive 30 mg prednisolone for 5 days. Those in the control group receive low-dose colchicine (day 1: 1.5 mg; days 2-5: 1 mg). The primary outcome is the absolute level of the most severe pain on day 3 (in the last 24 h) measured with an 11-item numerical rating scale. Day 0 is the day patients take their study medication for the first time. They are then asked to fill out a study diary the same time each day for pain quantification. Pain scores are used for comparison between the two medications. Secondary outcomes are average response to treatment, swelling, tenderness and physical function of the joint, patients' global assessment of treatment success, use of additional pain medication and non-pharmacological pain therapies. For safety reasons, potential side effects and course of systolic blood pressure are assessed. DISCUSSION: This trial will provide evidence on the effectiveness of pain reduction and side effects of colchicine and prednisolone in acute gout in primary care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05698680 first posted on January 26, 2023 (retrospectively registered). URL of trial registry record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05698680.

Plasmonic nanomaterials-based flexible strips for the SERS detection of gouty arthritis.

Flexible biochips that enable sensitive detection and simultaneous quantification of biomarkers are of great importance in the field of point-of-care testing. Recently, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based flexible biochips have attracted a great deal of research attention for disease detection due to their rapid, sensitive, and noninvasive sensing abilities. Phenomenal progress in the synthesis of structure-controlled plasmonic nanomaterials has made SERS a powerful sensing platform for disease diagnosis and trace detection. Here, we demonstrate flexible plasmonic biochips for the SERS-based detection of uric acid (UA). Flexible strips exhibited excellent sensing performance with a detection limit of around 10 µM of UA, which is lower than the average level of UA in tears. This rapid and sensitive detection method enables the noninvasive diagnosis of gouty arthritis.

Association between vegetarian diet and gouty arthritis: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A vegetarian diet is rich in vegetables, fruits, and soy products. Although vegetarian diet is beneficial for improving the health outcomes such as body mass index, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and mortality rate, the association between a vegetarian diet and gout incidence is not well known. METHODS AND RESULTS: We linked the MJ Health Survey Data and MJ Biodata 2000 with the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and the National Registration of Death (2000-2018). Information on the diet was collected from the MJ Health Survey Data, and the incidence of gouty arthritis was confirmed using the NHIRD. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve and log-rank test were used to compare the differences between vegetarian and non-vegetarian participants. Cox regression models were used to estimate the risk of the incidence of gouty arthritis. Among 76,972 participants, 37,297 (48.46%) were men, 2488 (3.23%) were vegetarians and the mean age was 41.65 ± 14.13 years. The mean baseline uric acid level was 6.14 ± 1.65 mg/dL. A total of 16,897 participants developed gouty arthritis, including 16,447 (22.08%) non-vegetarians and 450 (18.9%) vegetarians over a mean follow-up of 19 years. Significant differences were observed in the Kaplan-Meier survival curves between vegetarians and non-vegetarians (log-rank p < 0.001). Vegetarians had a significantly decreased incidence of gouty arthritis compared with non-vegetarians (hazard ratio = 0.87, 95% confidence interval = 0.78-0.98, p = 0.02) after adjusting for potential confounders. CONCLUSION: People with a vegetarian diet had a significantly decreased risk of developing gouty arthritis compared with non-vegetarians in Taiwan.

Test characteristics of Raman spectroscopy integrated with polarized light microscopy for the diagnosis of acute gouty arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: We studied the performance of Raman spectroscopy integrated with polarized light microscopy (iRPolM) as a next-generation technique for synovial fluid analysis in gout. METHODS: This is a prospective study, including consecutive synovial fluid samples drawn from any peripheral swollen joint. Diagnostic accuracy was compared to the 2015 ACR/EULAR Gout classification criteria as a reference test and to polarized light microscopy (PLM) analysis by a rheumatologist. Synovial fluid was analysed with iRPolM after unblinding the PLM results. RESULTS: Two hundred unselected consecutive patient samples were included in this study. Validation against clinical criteria: 67 patients were classified as gout according to 2015 ACR/EULAR classification criteria. Compared to the 2015 ACR/EULAR gout classification criteria, iRPolM had a sensitivity of 77.6% (95% CI: 65.8-86.9), specificity of 97.7% (95% CI: 93.5-99.5), positive predictive value (PPV) of 94.5% (95% CI: 84.9-98.2), negative predictive value (NPV) of 89.7% (95% CI: 84.7-93.1), an accuracy of 91.0% (95% CI: 86.2-94.6), a positive likelihood ratio of 34.4 (95% CI: 11.16-106.10) and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.23 (95% CI: 0.15-0.36). Validation against PLM: 55 samples were positive for MSU according to PLM. The interrater agreement between PLM and iRPolM was near perfect (к=0.90). The sensitivity of iRPolM to identify MSU in PLM-positive samples was 91.2% (95% CI: 80.7-97.1), the specificity was 97.6% (95% CI: 93.0-99.5), the PPV was 94.6% (95% CI: 85.0-98.2), NPV was 96.0% (95% CI: 91.2-98.2) and the accuracy was 95.6% (95% CI: 91.4-98.2). The positive likelihood ratio was 37.4 (95% CI: 12.20-114.71), and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.09 (95% CI: 0.04-0.21). CONCLUSION: iRPolM is a promising next-generation diagnostic tool for rheumatology by diagnosing gout with high specificity, increased objectivity, and a sensitivity comparable to PLM.

A metabonomic study to explore potential markers of asymptomatic hyperuricemia and acute gouty arthritis.

BACKGROUND: Acute gouty arthritis (AGA) is a metabolic disease with acute arthritis as its main manifestation. However, the pathogenesis of asymptomatic hyperuricemia (HUA) to AGA is still unclear, and metabolic markers are needed to early predict and diagnose. In this study, gas chromatography (GC)/liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS) was used to reveal the changes of serum metabolites from healthy people to HUA and then to AGA, and to find the pathophysiological mechanism and biological markers. METHODS: Fifty samples were included in AGA, HUA, and healthy control group, respectively. The metabolites in serum samples were detected by GC/LC-MS. According to the statistics of pairwise grouping, the statistically significant differential metabolites were obtained by the combination of multidimensional analysis and one-dimensional analysis. Search the selected metabolites in KEGG database, determine the involved metabolic pathways, and draw the metabolic pathway map in combination with relevant literature. RESULTS: Using metabonomics technology, 23 different serum metabolic markers related to AGA and HUA were found, mainly related to uric acid metabolism and inflammatory response caused by HUA/AGA. Three of them are completely different from the previous gout studies, nine metabolites with different trends from conventional inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we analyzed 150 serum samples from AGA, HUA, and healthy control group by GC/LC-MS to explore the changes of these differential metabolites and metabolic pathways, suggesting that the disease progression may involve the changes of biomarkers, which may provide a basis for disease risk prediction and early diagnosis.

Gout of feet and ankles in different stages: The potentiality of a new semiquantitative DECT scoring system in monitoring urate deposition.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of a novel semi-quantitative dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) scoring system in monitoring urate deposition. This study included 287 patients with gout. All patients underwent ankle/foot DECT scans. DECT scores at different stages were compared and their diagnostic efficacies evaluated. Associations between DECT scores and clinical variables were evaluated. Gouts with positive DECT results in early, middle, and late stages were 78.5 %, 81.4 %, and 95.8 %, respectively (all P > .05). The total and ankle/midfoot DECT scores at different stages significantly increased with disease duration (all P < .05). DECT scores of 4 regions excluding the first metatarsophalangeal joint in early and middle stages were lower than those in late stage (all P < .05). DECT scores achieved excellent diagnostic performance for differentiating gout in early stage from middle and late stages (area under the curve, 0.923 and 0.949), with high sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value (all > 85 %). Total DECT score was highly positively correlated with the volume of urate crystals (R = 0.873, P < .001). Disease duration, serum uric acid level, bone erosion, and Achilles tendon involvement significantly affected total DECT scores (all P < .01). In conclusion, longer disease duration, higher serum uric acid levels, bone erosion, and Achilles tendon involvement were closely associated with total DECT scores. DECT scoring system may be an invaluable tool for gout diagnosis owing to its high detection efficacy and a surrogate method to evaluate the amount of urate crystals and erosion of surrounding tissues.

Performance of a diagnostic score for gouty arthritis: results from a cohort of acute arthritis suspected of being septic.

Septic arthritis (SA) and gout are the main suspected etiologies of acute monoarthritis. Differentiating them is essential because SA is an emergency. The performance of a gout diagnostic score developed by Janssens et al. was investigated in a cohort of patients with acute arthritis suspected of being septic. This was an ancillary study of a single-center cohort of patients with suspected SA. Patients were classified into three groups according to the final diagnosis (gout, SA or other diagnosis). We assessed the performance of the score (sensitivity [Se], specificity [Sp], positive and negative predictive value [PPV, NPV], area under the receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curve) for the diagnosis of gouty arthritis. In total, 138 patients were included: 28 (20.3%) had gout, 42 (30.4%) SA, and 68 (49.3%) another diagnosis. The median diagnostic score was 7.0 [4.5; 8.8] for patients with gout, 3.5 [2.5; 6.0] for those with SA and 3.0 [2.0-5.0] for those with another diagnosis. With a score threshold of ≥ 8, the Se for a diagnosis of gout was 28.6%, Sp 96.4%, PPV 66.7%, and NPV 84.1%. With a threshold of ≤ 4, the Se was 82.1%, Sp 64.5%, PPV 37.1%, and NPV 93.4%. The area under the ROC for the diagnostic score was 0.79. The performance of the clinico-biological score of Janssens et al. for a diagnosis of gout applied to a cohort of patients with acute arthritis and suspected of being septic was poor. Joint aspiration remains necessary to differentiate SA from another etiology.

Gouty sacroiliitis: A case report of an often-overlooked cause of inflammatory back pain.

Gout is a chronic disease caused by monosodium urate crystal deposition, typically affecting the big toe, midfoot, and ankle. As it rarely involves the sacroiliac joints, it could be easily misdiagnosed as spondylarthritis. Here, we report the case of a patient with a long history of gout with recurrent low back pain. Computed tomography of the sacroiliac joint suggested sacroiliac arthritis, puncture biopsy indicated gout granuloma, and polarized light microscopy confirmed monosodium urate crystal deposits.

Erosive Tophaceous Gouty Arthropathy of the Hand: A Case Report.

The presence of tophaceous gout in the hand is a classic finding seen in uncontrolled gout. Occasionally gouty tophi can be the initial physical finding in asymptomatic hyperuricemia. Composed of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals, gouty tophi can cause significant soft tissue and joint pathology. In addition, tophaceous gout and hyperuricemia are associated with increased mortality. We present a patient with tophaceous gout causing erosive arthropathy of the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint. The diagnosis and treatment for tophaceous gout is reviewed.

Efficacy and safety of Tibetan medicine Qingpeng ointment for acute gouty arthritis: protocol for a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Acute gouty arthritis (AGA) is an inflammatory arthritis clinically characterized by severe pain, swelling, and restricted movement of joints, which may cause physical disability and decrease quality of life. The use of recommended first-line treatment agents for AGA may be limited by adverse events. There has been a traditional use of alternative therapies for AGA. Tibetan medicine Qingpeng ointment is one of the on-market herbal products used for symptom relief of AGA. Previous clinical studies indicated that Qingpeng ointment can relieve pain, swelling, redness, and dysfunction of joints in patients with AGA. However, there is no rigorous randomized trial to demonstrate its benefit for AGA. In order to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Qingpeng ointment for AGA, we designed a randomized controlled trial. METHODS: This study is designed as a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Two hundred and six adults with acute flare of gout, and visual analogue scale (VAS) score of joint pain ≥ 3 points will be recruited. Participants will be randomly assigned to herbal treatment or placebo group at a ratio of 1:1. Qingpeng ointment, or equal placebo ointment, will be applied topically at involved joints twice a day for consecutive 7 days. Patients in both groups would be allowed giving diclofenac sodium sustained-release tablets as rescue therapy when VAS score of joint pain ≥ 7 points during the treatment. The primary outcomes will be joint pain measured by VAS score, and joint swelling measured using width and thickness of affected joints and VAS score. Other outcome measures will be joint mobility, joint redness, C-reactive protein, serum uric acid, and the use of rescue medicine as well as adverse effect. DISCUSSION: To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first multi-center, randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the efficacy of Tibetan medicine Qingpeng ointment for AGA. The findings of this study would provide evidence for its use to relieve symptoms of AGA. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN ISRCTN34355813 . Registered on 25 January 2021.

Metabolomics analysis reveals four biomarkers associated with the gouty arthritis progression in patients with sequential stages.

OBJECTIVES: The gouty arthritis (GA) progression was multistage, yet the GA clinical diagnosis guidelines were more inclined to suitable for acute gouty arthritis (AGA), thus neglecting of the progress of GA. This study aimed to identify specific biomarkers that were competent for reflecting the progression of GA and attempted to provide evidence for seasonable intervention of appropriate clinical treatment. METHODS: A total of 547 patients with GA at sequential stages and healthy volunteers were divided into a training set (n = 347) and a validation set (n = 200). Serum metabolic profiles were determined by UHPLC-QTOF-MS-MS untargeted metabolomics, and biomarkers were identified by logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analysis. Further, UHPLC-QE-MS was applied for accurate quantitative validation of identified potential biomarkers in the validation set samples. RESULTS: After serum metabolic profiles analysis by untargeted metabolomics, 12 metabolites with monotonous change trend were screened, and were verified by targeted metabolomics subsequently. The quantitative results showed the serum concentration of kynurenic acid(KYNA), N1-Methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide(2PY), DL-2-Aminoadipic acid(2AMIA) and 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid(5-HIAA) of patients with sequential stages showed a strictly monotonic trend, and AUC was 0.97, 0.97, 0.96 and 0.95, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: KYNA and 5-HIAA are related to acute inflammation of GA, while 2PY and 2AMIA are related to renal function damage caused by long-term HUA. Therefore, we believe it is inappropriate to use a single biomarker to define the phase of GA. Actually, four biomarkers obtained in this paper should be integratedly adopted to evaluate the progression of GA with sequential stages.

Oral Huzhang granules for the treatment of acute gouty arthritis: protocol for a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Acute gouty arthritis (GA) is the main clinical manifestation and the most common initial symptom of gout. The treatment of acute GA involves the use of colchicine, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and corticosteroids. Because of the side effects of these drugs, their clinical applications are limited. The use of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of acute GA has unique advantages. The aim of this trial is to clarify the treatment efficacy, safety, and recurrence control efficacy of Huzhang granules (HZG) in patients with GA showing dampness-heat syndrome. METHODS/DESIGN: This double-blind, randomized, controlled trial was planned to be conducted between July 1, 2020, and December 31, 2022. A sample size of 267 participants (89 per group) with GA will be randomly assigned to three treatment groups in the ratio of 1:1:1: HZG, etoricoxib, and placebo groups. The study duration is 13 days, including a 1-day screening period, 5-day intervention period, and 1-week follow-up period. The primary outcome is analgesic effectiveness, assessed as pain in the worst-affected joint, which will be measured using the visual analog scale. Secondary outcomes include the patient's assessment of pain in the primary study joint, patient's global assessment of response to therapy, investigator's global assessment of response to therapy, investigator's assessment of tenderness and swelling of the study joint, and TCM syndromes. Furthermore, the number, nature, and severity of adverse events will be recorded. DISCUSSION: This study will provide evidence regarding the clinical efficacy and safety of Chinese medicine treatment for acute gouty arthritis. This study will provide noteworthy findings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04462666 . Registered on July 05, 2020 (first version).

[Severe tophaceous gouty arthritis can be treated but is still overlooked in healthcare].

This is a case report of a 68-year-old male with severe tophaceous gouty arthritis, diabetes, kidney impairment and ischaemic heart disease. The patient had repeated attacks of acute gout during a 20-year period and excessive tophaceous depositions. Walking was severely hampered by feet deformity and pain. No urate-lowering therapy was initiated despite contacts to several medical specialties. After the diagnosis was established, the patient was finally treated with allopurinol with an obvious beneficial effect on his symptoms and the size of the tophaceous depositions.

Significantly Better Efficacy for Acute Ankle Gouty Arthritis Through Arthroscopic Debridement Compared With Simple Drug Therapy: A Longitudinal Study With 1-Year Follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical feasibility, efficacy, and cost economics of simple drug therapy with a combination therapy of arthroscopic debridement and drug treatment of ankle acute gout arthritis. METHODS: Patients with acute ankle gout arthritis hospitalized in our department from January 2017 to August 2019 were included. Among them, 32 patients who received arthroscopic debridement in a special floating position and drug therapy were included into the observation group, and 24 patients who received drug treatment alone were included into the control group. The American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score, the effective rate, the recurrent rate, stay of hospital, complications, and cost economics were compared between these 2 groups at postoperative 48 hours, discharge time, and 1 year. RESULTS: The basic data and AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score before treatment showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) between these 2 groups. Compared with the control group, the observation group showed significantly higher AOFAS score at postoperative 48 hours (80.73 ± 9.15 vs 71.09 ± 8.54, p = 0.000), discharge time (87.73 ± 9.92 vs 77.71 ± 10.26, p = 0.000), and postoperative 1 year (85.92 ± 10.39 vs 76.36 ± 8.72, p = 0.000); lower recurrence rate (15.63% vs 25%, p = 0.382); significantly shorter length of hospitalization (4.92 ± 0.88 days vs 8.90 ± 0.73 days, p = 0.000); and significantly higher cost (¥8981.2 ± ¥740.2 vs ¥3558.3 ± ¥270.1, p = 0.000) during the discharge time. CONCLUSIONS: Ankle gout arthritis could be systematically and safely managed with ankle arthroscopic technique in special floating position. In addition, compared with conservative drug therapy alone, ankle arthroscopic debridement combined with conservative drug therapy improved clinical efficacy, lowered recurrence rate, and shortened length of hospitalization.