Subclinical atherosclerosis in gouty arthritis patients: a comparative study

Abstract

We evaluated the incidence of subclinical atherosclerosis and associated factors in our gouty arthritis patients. We included 55 gouty arthritis patients diagnosed at our center within the last 4 years. The control group included 41 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 34 patients with asymptomatic hyperuricemia (AHU). Atherosclerotic risk factors were determined in all subjects. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and the presence of plaques were evaluated by B-mode ultrasonography. The carotid IMT in gouty arthritis patients (0.730 ± 0.19) was significantly higher than in AHU subjects (0.616 ± 0.12) (P = 0.004) and tended to be higher than the RA group (0.669 ± 0.17) (P = 0.1). Atheromatous plaques were significantly more frequent in gouty arthritis patients (16 cases, 29.1%) than in RA patients (5 cases, 12.2%) and AHU subjects (3 cases, 8.8%) (P values, 0.05 and 0.023). Gout patients with plaques were older (P = 0.006) and tended to have tophi more frequently (P = 0.06). Logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR: 1.3, 95% CI: 1.02-1.54) and the presence of tophi (OR: 12.5, 95% CI: 1.2-140) were independent risk factors for the presence of plaques. Gouty arthritis bears a higher risk of atherosclerosis than both RA and AHU.