Fractures in Patients With Acute Calcium Pyrophosphate Crystal Arthritis Versus Matched Comparators in a Large Cohort Study

Abstract

ObjectiveCalcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD) disease was associated with osteopenia in two cross‐sectional studies. We compared fracture risks in patients with acute calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) crystal arthritis versus matched comparators.MethodsWe performed a longitudinal cohort study using electronic health record data from a single large academic health system, with data from 1991 to 2023. Patients with one or more episodes of acute CPP crystal arthritis were matched to comparators on the index date (first documentation of “pseudogout” or synovial fluid CPP crystals or matched encounter) and first encounter in the health system. The primary outcome was first fracture at the humerus, wrist, hip, or pelvis. We excluded patients with fracture before the index date. Covariates included demographics, body mass index, smoking, comorbidities, health care use, glucocorticoids, and osteoporosis treatments. We estimated incidence rates and adjusted hazard ratios for fracture. Sensitivity analyses excluded patients prescribed glucocorticoids, patients prescribed osteoporosis treatments, or patients with rheumatoid arthritis and additionally adjusted for chronic kidney disease.ResultsWe identified 1,148 patients with acute CPP crystal arthritis matched to 3,730 comparators, with a mean age of 73 years. Glucocorticoids and osteoporosis treatments were more frequent in the acute CPP crystal arthritis cohort. Fracture incidence rates were twice as high in the acute CPP crystal arthritis cohort (11.7 per 1,000 person‐years) versus comparators (5.5 per 1,000 person‐years). After multivariable adjustment, fracture relative risk was twice as high in the acute CPP crystal arthritis cohort (hazard ratio 1.8 [95% confidence interval 1.3–2.3]); results were similar in sensitivity analyses.ConclusionIn this first published study of fractures and CPPD, fracture risk was nearly doubled in patients with acute CPP crystal arthritis.