Jc. Gerster et al., ENTHESOPATHY AND TENDINOPATHY IN GOUT - COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 55(12), 1996, pp. 921-923
Objective-To establish if computed tomography (CT) imaging, which has
proved helpful in detecting intra-articular tophi in gout, can also be
used to document gouty enthesopathy and tendinopathy. Methods-Three p
atients with tophaceous gout and clinical involvement of the Achilles
tendon (two cases) or patellar tendon (one case) were assessed with CT
examination and plain radiographs. Results-In the first two cases, CT
images revealed linear or nodular high attenuation opacities within t
he substance of the Achilles tendons and their calcaneal insertion. In
case 3, dense linear opacities were seen within the patellar tendon a
nd within its tibial insertion. No such opacities of the tendons and e
ntheses were seen on standard radiographs of these patients. Conclusio
ns-CT appears to be the imaging method of choice for demonstrating mon
osodium urate deposits in entheses and tendons in tophaceous gout.