Prevalence of asymptomatic chondrocalcinosis in the pelvis

Abstract

Objective: To determine trends in incidentally detected age- and gender-associated chondrocalcinosis on pelvic CT.

Materials and methods: Twenty patients of each gender at the center of each decade of life who underwent a CT scan of the pelvis performed 2009-2013 were identified and selected for a total of 400 pelvic CTs. Images were reviewed independently by two radiologists for the presence or absence of chondrocalcinosis within the pelvis. Patients with hip or low back pain, known CPPD arthropathy or any known predisposing condition, prior hip arthroplasty, or articular fracture were excluded. Logistic regression was used to predict the presence/absence of chondrocalcinosis as a function of patient age and gender.

Results: The presence/absence of chondrocalcinosis was found to be associated with patient age (p = 0.016) but not patient gender (p = 0.929). In the pelvis, chondrocalcinosis was most frequently identified at the pubic symphysis. Incidental chondrocalcinosis was not identified in any patients under 50 years of age. Chondrocalcinosis increased in frequency from 12.5 at 55 years of age to 27.5 % of patients 95 years of age.

Conclusions: Chondrocalcinosis is common and more prevalent in late adulthood, occurs without a gender predilection, and is infrequently identified in patients younger than 50 years of age.

Keywords: CPPD; CT; Calcium pyrophosphate deposition; Chondrocalcinosis; Computed tomography.