Articular chondrocalcinosis in a hospital population: an Australian experience

A group of hospital patients aged 55 years or over (53 men, 74 women) were screened for articular chondrocalcinosis (ACC) with high-resolution radiographs of knees, wrists, hand and pelvis. Two men (4%) aged 79 and 86 years had ACC involving knees, wrists and symphysis pubis. Both had clinical joint disease and radiological osteoarthritis (OA). Eighteen women (24%) had ACC with sites affected including the knees (89%), wrists (39%) and symphysis pubis (44%). Metabolic screening did not reveal any predisposing factors in patients with ACC. Symptoms and signs of joint disease were not significantly more common in women with ACC compared to those without ACC, and 44% of those with knee calcification were clinically asymptomatic and had no evidence of OA radiologically. However, the presence of knee ACC significantly increased the risk for OA in the same knee by a factor of three-to-four while knee calcification was associated with the more severe grades of radiographic OA.