Runner with gout and an aortic valve nodule.

A 33-yr-old male ran 10 miles, drank some beer, and developed pain in his left knee and ankle. He took some leftover antibiotics but was no better after 6 d, when a heart murmur and an aortic valve nodule were discovered. He was presumed to have endocarditis with septic arthritis and was started on intravenous antibiotics. On the second hospital day, synovial fluid analysis revealed acute gout, and the patient improved very rapidly on anti-gout therapy. The valvular nodule remained unexplained, but one very rare cause of valvular heart nodules is visceral gout. An unsuccessful attempt to resorb the nodule was made by using allopurinol. This patient demonstrates several points about gout in endurance athletes: 1) acute gout can mimic infectious endocarditis, 2) misdiagnosed or undertreated gout often leads to multiple joint involvement and sometimes to visceral tophi, and 3) athletes who exercise in warm weather and quench their thirst with cold beer are at risk for acute gout.