The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Dual-Energy CT May Help Detect Gout Patients at Risk for Heart Disease

Dual-Energy CT May Help Detect Gout Patients at Risk for Heart Disease

September 25, 2019 • By Marilynn Larkin

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Dual energy computed tomography (DECT) can differentiate cardiovascular monosodium urate (MSU) deposits from calcium deposits in patients with gout, potentially identifying those at risk of heart disease, researchers say.

You Might Also Like
  • Psoriatic Arthritis Linked to Increased Heart Disease Risk
  • Study Finds Newer Gout Drug Poses Risk to Heart Patients
  • Clinical Applications of Dual-Energy Computed Tomography for Rheumatology

Sylvia Strobl, MD, of Medical University Innsbruck and colleagues analyzed calcium scores and MSU deposits in 59 patients with gout (mean age: 59; 78% men) and 47 controls (mean age: 70; 60% men), all of whom underwent DECT at the university’s rheumatology clinic. They also studied the same values with DECT from six cadavers (mean age at death: 76; range: 50% men).

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

As reported online Sept. 11 in JAMA Cardiology, cardiovascular MSU deposit frequency was higher among patients with gout (86.4%) compared with controls (14.9%). Similarly, coronary MSU deposits, specifically, were more frequent among patients with gout (32.2%) versus 4.3%).1

Coronary calcium scores also were significantly higher among patients with gout (900 Agatston units vs. 263 AU), and were significantly higher among the 58 individuals with cardiovascular MSU deposits (950 AU) vs. 48 without MSU deposits (217 AU).

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Among the six cadavers, three showed cardiovascular MSU deposits, including one with deposits in the thoracic aorta, one with deposits in the coronary arteries, and one with deposits in the thoracic aorta, coronary arteries, and mitral valve.

“Our study demonstrates the feasibility of DECT to image MSU deposits in coronary arteries and the thoracic aorta, (and) underscores the potential importance of DECT in a comprehensive cardiovascular examination of patients with gout,” the authors state.

Rupak Thapa, MD, assistant professor, Rheumatology and Immunology at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, N.C., comments in an email to Reuters Health, “DECT is a relatively recent development in the imaging of gouty arthritis. In the hands of an experienced radiologist, it can detect the gouty tophi—i.e., deposition of monosodium urate crystala—in the soft tissue of gout patients with good sensitivity.”

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

“This technology is already becoming popular as it is non-invasive and the patient does not need to have joint effusion, which is the requirement for arthrocentesis, the standard test to confirm gout,” he said.

“In terms of the clinical applicability, clinicians should discuss the importance of cardiovascular health—e.g., paying attention to blood pressure, smoking cessation, increasing physical activity, cholesterol monitoring, etc.—in any of their patients with gout,” he said.

“For the research community,” he adds, “the finding [points to the need to conduct] additional studies to address issues such as: Is the association between gout and cardiovascular disease a mere co-existence due to the similar risk factors (metabolic syndrome with truncal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, insulin resistance, and hyperuricemia) or is there any causal relationship between them, too? Does the treatment of gout in this patient population reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases?”

Pages: 1 2 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions, Crystal Arthritis Tagged With: cardiovascular, dual energy computed tomography, Gout, Heart Disease, imaging

You Might Also Like:
  • Psoriatic Arthritis Linked to Increased Heart Disease Risk
  • Study Finds Newer Gout Drug Poses Risk to Heart Patients
  • Clinical Applications of Dual-Energy Computed Tomography for Rheumatology
  • Heart Disease: Major Risk Factor for Many Rheumatology Patients

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)