Application of dual-energy computed tomography for detecting uric acid deposition in patients with gout / 中国医学科学院学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the value of dual energy computed tomography (DECT) for the detection of uric acid (UA) deposition in patients with gout.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 37 patients with tophaceous gout (including 8 crystal-proven cases) and 10 control patients (5 with unknown arthropathy, 3 with rheumatoid arthritis, and 2 with osteoarthritis) were included. DECT was performed for all peripheral joints (wrists, hands, elbows, knees, ankles and feet) . Color coding was used to display the localization of UA deposition. Images were reviewed independently by two trained radiologists.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>With DECT, patients with gout were found to have UA deposits in hands and wrists 46% (17/37) , elbows 16% (6/37) , knees 27% (10/37) , ankles and feet 89% (33/37) . No UA deposit was observed in all 10 control patients (P=0.000) . Among the 37 patients with gout, the number of UA deposition sites detected by DECT (n=297) was 2.25 times of that detected by physical examinations (n=132) (P=0.000) .</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>DECT allows the visualization of UA deposition in gouty arthropathy. Even subclinical disease can be delineated with this technique. However, the accuracy of DECT requires further investigations.</p>