Is cardiac function associated with the clinical course of disease in patients with gout? A prospective study.

Objective: To analyze the function of the left heart in patients with different courses of gout, the independent influencing factors for left heart functional changes, and interactions between left atrial and left ventricular functions. Methods: Patients with gout (n = 171) were selected; 87 patients with a disease course <10 years were included in Group I, and 84 patients with a disease course ≥10 years were included in Group II. Ninety‐four healthy volunteers comprised the control group. Results: The intergroup differences in cardiac strain parameters were statistically significant (p <.05). Moreover, the differences gradually declined with disease progression. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that uric acid was an independent predictor of decreased left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS). Moreover, LVGLS had a positive effect on the left atrial systolic rate (LASr) and the left atrial systolic contraction time (LASct) but no interaction with the left atrial systolic contraction duration (LAScd). Conclusion: The course of the disease significantly affected the function of the left heart in gout patients, and uric acid was observed to be an independent predictor of decreased LVGLS in gout patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]