| Popis: |
Background Today, despite the great potential of ultrasound (US) in gout, there is lack of longer duration US follow – up studies in this disease. Objectives The aim was to evaluate the 24 month’s treatment effect of urate-lowering therapy on gout-specific US lesions and to determine the most representative target for US follow-up in gout. Methods A 24 month prospective observational single-centre study was carried out. Patients with gout diagnosis, confirmed by identification of monosodium urate crystals, with at least one tophus in the joint or tendon or one double contour sign (DC) on US, were selected for the study. The serum uric acid (SUA) level was assessed every three months. US evaluations of 36 joints and four tendons (m. triceps and patellar) were performed every six months starting from the baseline, by one rheumatologist, blinded to the SUA levels and clinical data. Outcomes were: change in US features (tophus, DC count and tophus size) in joints and tendons according median of SUA level during the follow up period from M3 to M24. Two stages of SUA levels were defined: high,≥360 μmol/l; and low, Results We included 40 gouty patients (mean ±SD age 54.1±9.7 years, 90.0% males, disease duration 8.5±8.8 years). Mean ±SD baseline SUA level was 504.8±32.9 µmol/l. Among the 31 completers at M24, 21 (71%) achieved median SUA Conclusions Only one third of patients with median SUA Disclosure of Interest None declared |
