This case highlights a potential association between acute calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) crystal arthritis (pseudogout) and type 1 myocardial infarction, emphasizing the need for clinical suspicion of acute cardiovascular events in patients with CPPD.
May prompt cardiac evaluation during acute pseudogout; leaves open any causal link to type 1 MI.
Both gout and pseudogout are crystal-induced arthropathies. Here, we report a case of acute calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) arthritis associated with type 1 myocardial infarction (MI). An 83-year-old female presented to our emergency department with generalized weakness and bilateral lower extremity edema. Her left foot was noted to be more inflamed compared to the right, with cardinal signs of pain, swelling, erythema, and warmth. A presumptive diagnosis of cellulitis was made, and antibiotics were initiated. Further investigations revealed elevated troponins with new-onset bundle branch block, ST, and T-wave changes on electrocardiogram, indicating a type 1 MI. After a review of the patient's history, imaging of the extremity, elevated inflammatory markers, and the typical distribution and pattern of inflammation, the diagnosis was changed to pseudogout. Steroids and colchicine were initiated, providing instant relief. This case highlights a possible association between cardiovascular disease and pseudogout, emphasizing the need for further studies regarding this relationship. Despite being rare, physicians should be made aware of this relationship, especially in patients with a history of CPPD arthritis presenting with type 1 MI.
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Raza et al. (2023) studied this question.
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