LAUSR

Disease remission is the goal of therapy for many chronic rheumatic diseases. In 2016, provisional gout remission criteria were proposed (1). To the best of our knowledge, no studies have compared ultrasound (US) findings in gouty patients with and without remission.To determine the prevalence of US pathologic findings in patients with gout fulfilling and not fulfilling the provisional remission criteria and to investigate the value of the US findings as predictors of a gouty flare within 6 months.Patients with a diagnosis of gout according to the 2015 classification criteria (2) were recruited in this prospective, monocentric study. The following clinical information was recorded at baseline and after 6 months: number of gouty flares in the preceding 6 months, number of subcutaneous tophi, current serum urate level, and patient reported outcomes (pain visual analogue scale and patient global assessment visual analogue scale). Bilateral US assessment of the following anatomical areas was performed (3): elbow, wrist, II metacarpophalangeal joint, knee, ankle and I metatarsophalangeal joint. US evidence of tophi, aggregates, double contour sign and synovitis were recorded according to the correspondent OMERACT definitions.Forty-nine patients with gout were consecutively enrolled. The remission criteria were satisfied in 9 (18.4%) patients. Monosodium urate (MSU) deposits and findings of synovitis were observed by US less frequently in patients in remission (55.6% and 22.2%), compared with those not fulfilling the criteria (100.0% and 72.5%) (p values<0.01). The US MSU total score was 1.0; 0.0–2.0 (median and inter-quartile range) for patients in remission, compared with 6.0; 5.0–7.0 for those not fulfilling the criteria (p<0.01). US synovitis total score was significantly correlated with patient global assessment (R=0.55, p<0.01), patient pain (R=0.51, p<0.01) and number of gouty attacks in the previous 6 months (R=0.36, p=0.03), whereas MSU total score was associated with the number of gouty attacks in the previous 6 months (R=0.49, p<0.01), the number of subcutaneous tophi (R=0.45, p<0.01), patient pain (R=0.41, p=0.01), patient global assessment (R=0.41, p<0.01). At logistic regression analysis, the presence of subcutaneous tophi (OR=2.8, p=0.02), CRP level (OR=6.5, p=0.04) and US synovitis score (OR=2.0, p=0.04) and were predictors of subsequent development of gouty flare within 6 months.This study provides new insights into the inter-critical phase of gout, highlighting the clinical relevance of US synovitis as a predictor of subsequent development of gouty flare and joint pain. Despite MSU deposits are still detectable in patients satisfying the 2016 provisional remission criteria for gout, the remission is associated with less US detected MSU deposits.[1]de Lautour H, et al. Development of preliminary Remission Criteria for Gout Using Delphi and 1000Minds Consensus Exercises. Arthritis Care Res 2016[2]Neogi T, et al. 2015 Gout classification criteria: an American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism collaborative initiative. Ann Rheum Dis 2015[3]Naredo E, et al. Ultrasound-detected musculoskeletal urate crystal deposition: which joints and what findings should be assessed for diagnosing gout? Ann Rheum Dis 2014Edoardo Cipolletta: None declared, Andrea Di Matteo Grant/research support from: the publication was conducted while Dr. Di Matteo was an ARTICULUM fellow, Giada Brunori: None declared, Antonella Moretti: None declared, Walter Grassi Speakers bureau: Prof. Grassi reports personal fees from AbbVie, personal fees from Celgene, personal fees from Grünenthal, personal fees from Pfizer, personal fees from Union Chimique Belge Pharma, outside the submitted work., Emilio Filippucci Speakers bureau: Dr. Filippucci reports personal fees from AbbVie, personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb, personal fees from Celgene, personal fees from Roche, personal fees from Union Chimique Belge Pharma, personal fees from Pfizer, outside the submitted work.