Amir Bieber1, Naomi Schlesinger2, Abdallah Fawaz3, Reuven Mader4. 1. Rheumatic Diseases Unit, Ha'Emek Medical Center, Afula 18101, Israel. Electronic address: amir.bieber@gmail.com. 2. Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ. 3. Rheumatic Diseases Unit, Ha'Emek Medical Center, Afula 18101, Israel. 4. Rheumatic Diseases Unit, Ha'Emek Medical Center, Afula 18101, Israel; The Technicon Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Acute gout is a common arthritis that may eventually develop into chronic tophaceous gout (CTG). CTG usually is manifested by recurrent gout attacks. The diagnosis and treatment of CTG is challenging. Although the emergence of CTG without previous gout attacks is uncommon, it is important to recognize this unusual gout presentation. METHODS: Herein, we present two cases of CTG, occurring in elderly patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on diuretics, who presented without a prior history of acute gout attacks. We also searched PUBMED, Ovid MEDLINE, and Google scholar (1970-2017), for "tophi as the initial manifestation of gout" and "chronic gout without previous attacks", and extracted relevant data. RESULTS: The search disclosed one retrospective study and several case reports and case series describing 96 patients. Clinical and laboratory data was extracted from 34 patients. We found that a specific group of patients, e.g., elderly patients, most often female patients, suffering from CKD, and treated with diuretics, are specifically reported in the English medical literature to present with CTG as their first manifestation of gout. CONCLUSION: The two cases and our literature review try to emphasize the many faces of chronic gout, in particular, its presentation without previous gout attacks.
OBJECTIVES: Acute gout is a common arthritis that may eventually develop into chronic tophaceous gout (CTG). CTG usually is manifested by recurrent gout attacks. The diagnosis and treatment of CTG is challenging. Although the emergence of CTG without previous gout attacks is uncommon, it is important to recognize this unusual gout presentation. METHODS: Herein, we present two cases of CTG, occurring in elderly patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on diuretics, who presented without a prior history of acute gout attacks. We also searched PUBMED, Ovid MEDLINE, and Google scholar (1970-2017), for "tophi as the initial manifestation of gout" and "chronic gout without previous attacks", and extracted relevant data. RESULTS: The search disclosed one retrospective study and several case reports and case series describing 96 patients. Clinical and laboratory data was extracted from 34 patients. We found that a specific group of patients, e.g., elderly patients, most often female patients, suffering from CKD, and treated with diuretics, are specifically reported in the English medical literature to present with CTG as their first manifestation of gout. CONCLUSION: The two cases and our literature review try to emphasize the many faces of chronic gout, in particular, its presentation without previous gout attacks.