ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The clinical manifestations of gout in Korea would be changed lately according to the rapid economical development and the development of diagnostic methods. This study was done to reveal the late clinical features of gout in Korea. METHODS: A retrospective study was done for the 90 gout patients who had been treated in Seoul Paik Hospital from March 1974 to August 1994. Age of onset, sex, duration of disease, serum uric acid level, uric acid concentration of 24 hour urine, joint of first attack, recurrently involved joints, X-ray of involved joint, frequency of tophi, renal ultrasonography, and associated diseases were analyzed. The uric acid levels of the 808 civilians who visited our hospital for the periodic health examination were used as a control value. RESULTS: 1) The serum uric acid level in Korean adults was 5.2+/-1.1mg/dL in male, 3.8+/-0.7mg/dL in female, and 4.7mg/dL in general. The serum uric acid concentration of the gout patients was 8.6+/-2.2mg/dL in male, 6.1+/-2.1mg/dL in female, and 8.5+/-2.3mg/dL in general. The age of onset was 46.4+/-12.9 years old and male to female ratio was 44: 1 2) The renal excretion of uric acid was 470+/-173 mg/day in gout patients. 3) The sites of first attack were first MTP joint(76%), tarsal joint(13%), knee(5%), and other MTP joints(5%) 4) The involved joints during the repeated attacks were first MTP joint(84%), tarsal joint(23%), and fingers(23%), The duration of disease was significantly longer and the serum uric acid concentration was higher in the patients with tophi than they are in the patients without. 5) The 4l% of patients showed hone change in X-ray. 6) The renal ultrasound examinations were abnormal in 42% of the patients and the serum uric acid concentrations were significantly higher. 7) Obesity was found in 68% of patients, hypertension in 39%, hyperlipidemia in 16%, and chronic renal disease in 12%. CONCLUSION: The clinical features of gout in our study were similar to those of others done in and out of Korea, except that the frequency of hypertringlyceridemia was much lower than that of the foreign countries.