Do all patients with CPPD have Chondrocalcinosis?
CPPD can cause arthritis without being seen as CC on x-rays. This can occur in up to 20% of patients with symptomatic CPPD. This is one reason why an acutely inflamed joint must be aspirated to identify the cause. An elderly patient who presents with an acutely inflamed knee could have gout or pseudogout as a cause of the arthritis, even if the x-ray is normal, and can be accurately diagnosed only by aspirating the joint. The term pyrophosphate arthropathy has been used to describe structural damage to a joint associated with CPPD, with or without radiographic CC.
