Chronic Disease Discussion Questions Related

Review Chronic Disease Discussion Questions related questions and content

Mr Yee, 45 years old, reports three recent gout attacks in the ankle or knee. You notice a small tophus over his left elbow. He says that two years ago he took allopurinol 100 mg for one month followed by 200 mg OM for one month, but stopped as it 'did not help his gout and there was no improvement'. When you probe, he states that he was not very adherent to allopurinol either then as it was some years ago. He says he took it likely 'once or twice a week'. He states that he did not experience any rashes or other side effects to it then. He did not go back to see his previous GP as he has moved house and your clinic is nearer to his home. He does not drink alcohol except one glass of wine once or twice a year on special occasions. Two weeks ago, he was admitted to the hospital for a gout flare. He had blood tests done, which returned the results below. He is asking you to give him Arcoxia standby as it usually works for his gout flare. Uric acid 620 mmol/L, Creatinine 96 umol/L, eGFR >90 mL/min, BP 144/94 mmHg. He has HTN on HCTZ long-term. Which is incorrect advice?

  • A. Offer to restart allopurinol and explain that it does not work immediately. You may wish to discuss HLA B5801 testing particularly as it is unclear how frequent and for how long he was taking allopurinol previously
  • B. Advise that he will need stepwise up-titration of a urate lowering agent to reach uric acid target. Regular blood tests will allow this to be done safely
  • C. Advice that colchicine prophylaxis is helpful to prevent gout attacks, as it takes time for a urate lowering agent to reach uric acid target
  • D. Advise him that allopurinol is ineffective. Offer to initiate febuxostat or probenecid immediately
Correct Answer: D

Rationale: Tophus and 620 uric acid yell chronic gout allopurinol's not bunk; past spotty use tanked it, not the drug. Restarting with titration, colchicine cover, and allergy watch fits; HLA testing flags risk. Swapping to febuxostat or probenecid skips allopurinol's shot wrong call when adherence, not efficacy, flopped. Clinicians correct this, steering chronic control right.