Appearance of acute gouty arthritis on indium-111-labeled leukocyte scintigraphy. (73/85)

Indium-111-labeled leukocyte scintigraphy was performed on a 66-yr-old male with polyarticular acute gouty arthritis. Images revealed intense labeled leukocyte accumulation in a pattern indistinguishable from septic arthritis, in both knees and ankles, and the metatarsophalangeal joint of both great toes, all of which were involved in the acute gouty attack. Joint aspirate as well as blood cultures were reported as no growth; the patient was treated with intravenous colchicine and ACTH for 10 days with dramatic improvement noted. Labeled leukocyte imaging, repeated 12 days after the initial study, revealed near total resolution of joint abnormalities, concordant with the patient's clinical improvement. This case demonstrates that while acute gouty arthritis is a potential pitfall in labeled leukocyte imaging, in the presence of known gout, it may provide a simple, objective, noninvasive method of evaluating patient response to therapy.  (+info)

Etoricoxib versus indometacin in the treatment of Chinese patients with acute gouty arthritis: a randomized double-blind trial. (74/85)

BACKGROUND: Acute gout is an intensely painful, inflammatory arthritis. Although the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely used for this condition, the efficacy is based on only a few studies, particularly in China. We tried to assess the safety and efficacy of etoricoxib in the treatment of acute gouty arthritis in China. METHODS: A randomized, double-blind, active comparator study was conducted at 10 sites in China. Patients (n = 178; >/= 18 years of age) with acute gouty attack (< 48 hours) were treated for 5 days with etoricoxib (120 mg/d; n = 89) or indometacin (75 mg twice daily; n = 89). The primary efficacy end point was self-assessed pain in the affected joint (0-4 point Likert scale) from days 2 - 5. Secondary end points included investigator assessments of tenderness and swelling, patient/ investigator global assessments of response to therapy, and patients discontinuing treatment. Safety was assessed by adverse events (AEs). RESULTS: Etoricoxib and indometacin had comparable primary and secondary end points. Mean change difference from baseline from days 2 - 5 was 0.03 (95% confidence interval (CI) -0.19 to 0.25; P = 0.6364), which fell within the prespecified comparative bounds of -0.5 to 0.5. No severe AEs were associated with etoricoxib use. Non-severe AEs were mainly digestive and general, and most (73.7%) were mild, although they caused withdrawal of two subjects in the etoricoxib group, due to bilateral renal calculi and uronephrosis of the left kidney (unrelated to etoricoxib) and fever and chills (potentially etoricoxib-related). Overall, AEs were similar, although the absolute number of AEs in the etoricoxib group (n = 31) was less than the indometacin group (n = 34). CONCLUSIONS: Etoricoxib (120 mg once daily) is effective in treating acute gout, is generally safe and well-tolerated, and is comparable in efficacy to indometacin (75 mg twice daily).  (+info)

Association of TLR4 Gene rs2149356 polymorphism with primary gouty arthritis in a case-control study. (75/85)

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Pegloticase for treatment of tophaceous polyarticular gout. (76/85)

This is a case report of a patient with treatment resistant gout who was prescribed pegloticase and developed a severe reaction. A 30-year-old Hawaiian-Filipino man presented with a nine-year history of gout that progressed from episodic monoarticular arthritis, treated with aspiration and corticosteroid injections, to more aggressive disease with more frequent attacks requiring escalation of therapy. He was treated with systemic corticosteroids, colchicine and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but then required allopurinol. Despite aggressive therapy, the patient continued to have hyperuricemia and tophi developed even after treatment with febuxostat and probenicid. The patient became wheel chair bound due to his pain and, at that point, the decision was made to initiate treatment with pegloticase. The patient initially experienced significant improvement with treatment; however, he soon began to have elevation in his serum uric acid levels and developed a severe reaction during treatment.  (+info)

Recommendations for the use of ultrasound in rheumatoid arthritis: literature review and SONAR score experience. (77/85)

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Pseudorheumatoid disability man with chronic tophaceous gout: a case report. (78/85)

Gout is a type of inflammatory arthropathy that affects the peripheral joints and results from the accumulation of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in the synovial fluid and other tissues. This disease is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis in men over 40 years of age. The fundamental biochemical abnormality in gout is an increase in serum urate (SU) concentration. These needle-like crystals induce not only acute episodes of inflammatory process into the surrounding area, but also, in the long-term history of the disease, chronic inflammation that is associated with changes in articular and periarticular structures. The next step caused by deposited MSU crystals is represented by the tophus formation and chronic gouty synovitis. The presence of tophi has been associated with greater physical functional disability in gout patients. We presented a case of severe chronic tophaceous gout in a 48-year-old man with chronic hand arthritis and urolithiasis, to point the significance of complex assessment (clinical, functional, imagistic and histological exams) in the diagnosis of a soft tissue lesion, especially in hands.  (+info)

Efficacy of anakinra in gouty arthritis: a retrospective study of 40 cases. (79/85)

INTRODUCTION: Gout is a common arthritis that occurs particularly in patients who frequently have associated comorbidities that limit the use of conventional therapies. The main mechanism of crystal-induced inflammation is interleukin-1 production by activation of the inflammasome. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of anakinra in gouty patients. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter retrospective review of patients receiving anakinra for gouty arthritis. We reviewed the response to treatment, adverse events and relapses. RESULTS: We examined data for 40 gouty patients (32 men; mean age 60.0 +/- 13.9 years) receiving anakinra. Mean disease duration was 8.7 +/- 8.7 years. All patients showed contraindications to and/or failure of at least two conventional therapies. Most (36; 90%) demonstrated good response to anakinra. Median pain on a 100-mm visual analog scale was rapidly decreased (73.5 (70.0 to 80.0) to 25.0 (20.0 to 32.5) mm, P < 0.0001), as was median C-reactive protein (CRP) level (130.5 (55.8 to 238.8) to 16.0 (5.0 to 29.5) mg/l, P < 0.0001). After a median follow-up of 7.0 (2.0 to 13.0) months, relapse occurred in 13 patients after a median delay of 15.0 (10.0 to 70.0) days. Seven infectious events, mainly with long-term use of anakinra, were noted. CONCLUSIONS: Anakinra may be efficient in gouty arthritis, is relatively well tolerated with short-term use, and could be a relevant option in managing gouty arthritis when conventional therapies are ineffective or contraindicated. Its long-term use could be limited by infectious complications.  (+info)

Synthesis of the active metabolite of vitamin D, 1,25(OH)2D3, by synovial fluid macrophages in arthritic diseases. (80/85)

Synthesis of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) has been shown in cells from knee joint synovial fluid of 20 patients with inflammatory rheumatoid disease, reactive or psoriatic arthritis, or gout, all of which had high synovial fluid cell counts, and by cells from a patient with aseptic necrosis of a femoral condyle after short term (less than 24 hours) or long term (seven days) primary culture. Cells from 18 patients with inflammatory arthritis, five of which had low synovial fluid cell counts and cells from six patients with osteoarthritis were unable to synthesise this metabolite from 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3). Macrophages are believed to be the cells responsible for synthesising 1,25(OH)2D3 because these were significantly more numerous in samples that formed 1,25(OH)2D3; they were also the predominant cell type present in the aseptic necrosis sample and the only cell type present in preparations maintained for one week in monolayer culture.  (+info)