Credit: Original article published here.
Gout is a common form of arthritis that occurs when uric acid crystals build up in the joints, leading to inflammation and intense pain. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is another prevalent condition that affects the kidneys’ ability to filter waste products from the blood, resulting in the accumulation of toxins in the body. According to a recent study in Kidney Diseases, diagnosing kidney injury in patients with gout is often delayed, highlighting the need for better diagnostic tools.
The study aimed to determine the characteristics of gout patients with CKD using musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) and evaluate whether MSUS could be used to assess kidney injury and predict renal outcomes in gout patients.
The study included 176 patients with gout, categorized into 2 groups: those with and without CKD. The researchers collected clinical information, laboratory indicators, and MSUS findings and compared them between the 2 groups. They also applied multivariate logistic regression to identify risk factors for clinical and MSUS characteristics in both groups.
Regarding the results of the study, the researchers wrote: “After adjusting for confounders, the gout patients with CKD showed more frequent episodes in the previous year, higher ultrasound semiquantitative scores, and more tophi than gout patients without CKD.” Additionally, the number of tophi (deposits of uric acid crystals that form under the skin), bone erosion, and synovial hypertrophy measured by MSUS was found to be negatively correlated with the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), which is a measure of kidney function.
The study also revealed that the presence of tophi was independently associated with a greater risk of a ≥10% decline in eGFR in the first year of follow-up (odds ratio, 3.56; 95% CI, 1.382-9.176). Ultrasound-detected tophi, bone erosion, and synovial hypertrophy were found to be associated with kidney injury in gout patients. MSUS could be a potential auxiliary diagnostic method to evaluate kidney injury and predict renal outcomes in gout patients by identifying those at a higher risk of renal function decline.
The study’s findings suggest that MSUS may be a useful tool in evaluating kidney injury in patients with gout, as “MSUS is a non-invasive technology with the advantages of visualization, patient friendliness, and the ability to scan multiple joints in a short time.”
Researchers concluded, “More convincing results remain to be provided by larger and more carefully designed clinical studies.”
Source: Kidney Diseases
