Difficult diagnosis of gout: the benefit of dual energy computed tomography, initial experience in routine clinical practice

Gout, one of the most common inflammatory arthritides in humans, is still difficult to diagnose in challenging situations, when fluid for arthrocentesis or an apparent tophus are absent and, for example, an infection as differential diagnosis has to be ruled out. Dual energy computed tomography (DECT) is an established tool for detection and characterisation of uric acid stones in the urinary tract and has recently been used to detect and display urate deposits. Our first experiences with DECT as a diagnostic tool in routine clinical practice show, that DECT is a promising imaging technique which allows the detection of monosodium urate deposits and benefits the routine diagnosis of tophaceous gout particularly in diffuse soft tissue swelling of the limbs, without the possibility of needle aspiration. However, DECT does not seem suitable to detect dissolved urate crystals, neither in vitro nor in vivo.