Urate crystal deposition and bone erosion in gout: ‘inside-out’ or ‘outside-in’? A dual-energy computed tomography study

Background It is currently unknown whether bone erosion in gout occurs through an 'inside-out' mechanism due to direct intra-osseous crystal deposition or through an 'outside-in' mechanism from the surface of bone. The aim of this study was to examine the mechanism ('outside-in' vs. 'inside-out') of monosodium urate (MSU) crystal deposition in bone erosion in gout. Specifically, we used three-dimensional dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) to analyse the positional relationship between bone and MSU crystal deposition in tophaceous gout, and to determine whether intra-osseous crystal deposit... Mehr ...