To determine whether gout and serum urate (SU) levels are associated with increased risk of death, time to first readmission for any cardiovascular event, or incident heart failure in individuals with cardiovascular disease.
Individuals presenting with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were enrolled in the Coronary Disease Cohort Study. Clinical data were collected from the medical records at the index hospital admission, and clinical, echocardiographic, and biochemical data were collected postdischarge. Gout was defined by self-report, use of urate-lowering therapy, or use of colchicine with evidence of gout on review of the medical record. The primary end points were all-cause mortality, time to readmission for a cardiac ischemic event, and time to readmission for heart failure.
Data from 1,514 participants were available. During the follow-up period, 53 of 160 participants with gout (33.1%) and 298 of 1,354 participants without gout (22.0%) died. After adjustment for other factors known to be associated with mortality, there was no gout-specific increase in risk of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 0.98 [95% confidence interval 0.69-1.38]). Time to readmission for heart failure was significantly briefer in those with, compared to those without, gout (adjusted hazard ratio 1.42 [95% confidence interval 1.02-1.97]). Irrespective of whether a participant had gout or not, as SU level increased, there was an increased risk of death and readmission for either a cardiovascular event or heart failure.
Survival post-ACS is similar with and without the presence of gout. People with gout are at an increased risk of readmission for heart failure and have longer hospital stays. Risk of these events increases in parallel with increases in SU levels.