Positions

Overview

  • Angelo L. Gaffo is the section chief of Rheumatology at the Birmingham VA Medical Center and Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He graduated from Medical School in 1999 in his native Lima, Peru and moved to the United States to complete training in Internal Medicine (UAB), Rheumatology (UAB), Public Health (earning a master’s degree at the UAB School of Public Health), and Quality Improvement science (Birmingham VA) in 2009. After joining the Birmingham VA and UAB he has developed his research interest in genetics, pathogenesis, clinical, and therapeutic aspects of gout and hyperuricemia. He was been in charge of the effort to develop a definition for flares in patients with gout, which was validated and published in 2017. He continues to be active in the research of how gout flares are reported and analyzed in clinical research. He has been the leading investigator in a R01-level grant as part of a NIAMS funded P50 program and UAB Center of Research Translation in gout and hyperuricemia. He maintains a busy gout clinical practice at the Birmingham VA Medical Center and a second clinical practice focused on complex autoimmunity at UAB. In addition, he has a long-standing interest in rheumatology education. As the associate director for UAB Rheumatology fellowship program, he collaborates and mentors rheumatology fellows and internal medicine residents to conduct quality improvement projects and pursue a variety of research clinical interests at the Birmingham VA and UAB.
  • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2023 Rheumatoid arthritis among hispanics in the United States: New evidence for an "hispanic paradox"?American Journal of the Medical Sciences2023
    2022 Mimicking the mimicker: Necrotizing sarcoid granulomatosisAmerican Journal of the Medical Sciences.  364:466-471. 2022
    2022 Folic acid and methotrexate use and their association with COVID-19 diagnosis and mortality: A case-control analysis from the UK BiobankBMJ Open.  12. 2022
    2022 Emerging strategies for treating goutCurrent Opinion in Pharmacology.  65. 2022
    2022 Racial Differences in XO (Xanthine Oxidase) and Mitochondrial DNA Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns in Resistant HypertensionHypertension.  79:775-784. 2022
    2022 Gout Flare Severity From the Patient Perspective: A Qualitative Interview StudyArthritis Care and Research.  74:317-323. 2022
    2022 Which Attributes Are Most and Least Important to Patients When Considering Gout Flare Burden Over Time? A Best-worst Scaling Choice StudyJournal of Rheumatology.  49:213-218. 2022
    2022 Managing Gout in Women: Current PerspectivesJournal of Inflammation Research.  15:1591-1598. 2022
    2021 Denosumab did not improve computerized tomography erosion scores when added to intensive urate-lowering therapy in gout: Results from a pilot randomized controlled trialSeminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism.  51:1218-1223. 2021
    2021 Efficacy and safety of gout flare prophylaxis and therapy use in people with chronic kidney disease: a Gout, Hyperuricemia and Crystal-Associated Disease Network (G-CAN)-initiated literature reviewArthritis Research and Therapy.  23. 2021
    2021 The challenge of gout flare measurementBest Practice and Research: Clinical Rheumatology.  35. 2021
    2021 Variation in serum urate levels in the absence of gout and urate lowering therapyBMC Rheumatology.  5. 2021
    2021 What Represents Treatment Efficacy in Long-term Studies of Gout Flare Prevention? An Interview Study of People with GoutJournal of Rheumatology.  48:1871-1875. 2021
    2021 Higher Serum Urate Levels Are Associated With an Increased Risk for Sudden Cardiac DeathJournal of Rheumatology.  48:1745-1753. 2021
    2021 Management of gout in chronic kidney disease: a G-CAN Consensus Statement on the research prioritiesNature Reviews Rheumatology.  17:633-641. 2021
    2021 Effect of Serum Urate Lowering With Allopurinol on Blood Pressure in Young Adults: A Randomized, Controlled, Crossover TrialArthritis and Rheumatology.  73:1514-1522. 2021
    2021 Association of Agricultural, Occupational, and Military Inhalants With Autoantibodies and Disease Features in US Veterans With Rheumatoid ArthritisArthritis and Rheumatology.  73:392-400. 2021
    2021 Flare rate thresholds for patient assessment of disease activity states in GoutJournal of Rheumatology.  48:293-298. 2021
    2021 Which factors predict discordance between a patient and physician on a gout flare?Rheumatology.  60:773-779. 2021
    2021 Efficacy and safety of urate-lowering therapy in people with kidney impairment: A GCAN-initiated literature reviewRheumatology Advances in Practice.  5. 2021
    2021 Serum Urate Trajectory in Young Adulthood and Incident Cardiovascular Disease Events by Middle Age: CARDIA StudyHypertension.  1211-1218. 2021
    2021 Tele-monitoring flares using a smartphone app in patients with gout or suspected gout: a feasibility studyRheumatology Advances in Practice.  5. 2021
    2021 Variability in urate-lowering therapy prescribing: A gout, hyperuricemia and crystal-associated disease network (G-CAN) physician surveyJournal of Rheumatology.  48:152-153. 2021
    2020 Depressive Symptoms and the Effectiveness of a Urate-Lowering Therapy in a Clinical TrialACR Open Rheumatology.  2:710-714. 2020
    2020 Cardiovascular safety risks associated with gout treatmentsExpert Opinion on Drug Safety.  19:1143-1154. 2020
    2020 The experience of a gout flare: a meta-synthesis of qualitative studiesSeminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism.  50:805-811. 2020
    2020 Coexistent Hyperuricemia and Gout in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Associations With Comorbidities, Disease Activity, and MortalityArthritis Care and Research.  72:950-958. 2020
    2020 Gout epidemiology and comorbiditiesSeminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism.  50:S11-S16. 2020
    2020 Gout is associated with an increased risk for incident heart failure among older adults: The REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort studyArthritis Research and Therapy.  22. 2020
    2020 How flare prevention outcomes are reported in gout studies: A systematic review and content analysis of randomized controlled trialsSeminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism.  50:303-313. 2020
    2020 Severity of Hypertension Mediates the Association of Hyperuricemia With Stroke in the REGARDS Case Cohort StudyHypertension.  75:246-256. 2020
    2019 Gout, Hyperuricaemia and Crystal-Associated Disease Network (G-CAN) consensus statement regarding labels and definitions of disease states of goutAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases.  78:1592-1600. 2019
    2019 Web Exclusive. Annals On Call - Understanding Gout PathophysiologyACP journal club.  170:OC1. 2019
    2018 An Exercise in Clinical Reasoning: Do You Unpack?Journal of General Internal Medicine.  33:1196-1200. 2018
    2018 Untangling the complex relationships between incident gout risk, serum urate, and its comorbiditiesArthritis Research and Therapy.  20. 2018
    2018 Brief Report: Validation of a Definition of Flare in Patients With Established GoutArthritis and Rheumatology.  70:462-467. 2018
    2017 Rituximab in ANCA-Associated VasculitisCurrent Rheumatology Reports.  19. 2017
    2017 Renal dosing of allopurinol results in suboptimal gout careAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases.  76. 2017
    2016 The effects of urate lowering therapy on inflammation, endothelial function, and blood pressure (SURPHER) study design and rationaleContemporary Clinical Trials.  50:238-244. 2016
    2016 Treatment of hyperuricemia in gout: current therapeutic options, latest developments and clinical implicationsTherapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease.  8:145-159. 2016
    2016 Allopurinol Dose Reductions Based on Creatinine Alert Redesign SystemAmerican Journal of Medicine.  129:e95. 2016
    2015 Serum urate and incident cardiovascular disease: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) studyPLoS One.  10. 2015
    2015 Vascular calcifications on hand radiographs in rheumatoid arthritis and associations with autoantibodies, cardiovascular risk factors and mortalityRheumatology.  54:1587-1595. 2015
    2014 A qualitative assessment of internal medicine resident perceptions of graduate medical education following implementation of the 2011 ACGME duty hour standardsBMC Medical Education.  14. 2014
    2014 Comorbidities in patients with crystal diseases and hyperuricemiaRheumatic Disease Clinics of North America.  40:251-278. 2014
    2013 Longitudinal association between serum urate and subclinical atherosclerosis: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) studyJournal of Internal Medicine.  274:594-609. 2013
    2013 A Delphi exercise to identify characteristic features of gout - Opinions from patients and physicians, the first stage in developing new classification criteria (Journal of Rheumatology (2013) 40, (498-505))Journal of Rheumatology.  40:1634. 2013
    2013 Serum urate association with hypertension in young adults: Analysis from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults cohortAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases.  72:1321-1327. 2013
    2013 Association of functional polymorphism rs2231142 (Q141K) in the ABCG2 gene with serum uric acid and gout in 4 US populationsAmerican Journal of Epidemiology.  177:923-932. 2013
    2013 A Delphi exercise to identify characteristic features of gout - Opinions from patients and physicians, the first stage in developing new classification criteriaJournal of Rheumatology.  40:498-505. 2013
    2013 Genome-wide association analyses identify 18 new loci associated with serum urate concentrationsNature Genetics.  45:145-154. 2013
    2013 Genome-wide association analyses identify 18 new loci associated with serum urate concentrationsNature Genetics.  45:145-154. 2013
    2013 Genome-wide association analyses identify 18 new loci associated with serum urate concentrationsNature Genetics.  45:145-154. 2013
    2013 Thrombosis in vasculitisBest Practice and Research: Clinical Rheumatology.  27:57-67. 2013
    2012 Impact of interactions of cigarette smoking with NAT2 polymorphisms on rheumatoid arthritis risk in African AmericansArthritis and Rheumatism.  64:655-664. 2012
    2012 Drug treatment of hyperuricemia to prevent cardiovascular outcomes: Are we there yet?American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs.  12:1-6. 2012
    2012 Association between being African-American, serum urate levels and the risk of developing hyperuricemia: Findings from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults cohortArthritis Research and Therapy.  14. 2012
    2012 Developing a provisional definition of flare in patients with established goutArthritis and Rheumatism.  64:1508-1517. 2012
    2011 Bringing it all together: A novel approach to the development of response criteria for chronic gout clinical trialsJournal of Rheumatology.  38:1467-1470. 2011
    2011 Patient-reported outcomes in chronic gout: A report from OMERACT 10Journal of Rheumatology.  38:1452-1457. 2011
    2011 Serum urate in chronic gout - Will it be the first validated soluble biomarker in rheumatology?Journal of Rheumatology.  38:1462-1466. 2011
    2011 Tophus measurement as an outcome measure for clinical trials of chronic gout: Progress and research prioritiesJournal of Rheumatology.  38:1458-1461. 2011
    2010 Serum urate and its relationship with alcoholic beverage intake in men and women: Findings from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) cohortAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases.  69:1965-1970. 2010
    2010 Diagnostic Approach to ANCA-associated VasculitidesRheumatic Disease Clinics of North America.  36:491-506. 2010
    2009 Febuxostat: The evidence for its use in the treatment of hyperuricemia and goutCore Evidence.  4:25-36. 2009
    2009 Gout. Hyperuricemia and cardiovascular disease: how strong is the evidence for a causal link?Arthritis Research and Therapy.  11. 2009
    2009 Are glucocorticoids equivalent to NSAIDs for the treatment of gout flares?Nature Reviews Rheumatology.  5:12-13. 2009
    2008 Management of Hyperuricemia and Gout in CKDAmerican Journal of Kidney Diseases.  52:994-1009. 2008
    2008 Methotrexate is not associated with progression of interstitial lung disease in rheumatoid arthritisJAMA Internal Medicine.  168:1927-1928. 2008
    2008 Serum urate, menopause, and postmenopausal hormone use: from eminence to evidence-based medicine.Arthritis Research and Therapy.  10:120. 2008
    2007 Treatment of acute gout-like arthritis in an emergency setting: Prednisolone versus indomethacin: CommentaryNature Reviews Rheumatology.  3:604-605. 2007
    2007 Pulmonary manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis 2007
    2006 Treatment of rheumatoid arthritisAmerican Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.  63:2451-2465. 2006
    2005 A group randomized trial to improve safe use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugsAmerican Journal of Managed Care.  11:537-543. 2005
    2004 Cysticercosis as the main cause of partial seizures in children in PeruRevista de neurologia.  39:924-926. 2004
    1997 The role of menopause in the development of chronic mountain sicknessAmerican Journal of Physiology.  272. 1997

    Chapter

    Year Title Altmetric
    2014 Crystal Diseases.  1935-1949. 2014
    2013 Asymptomatic hyperuricemia and its clinical implications for extra-articular disease.  132-147. 2013
    2012 Diagnosis of gout.  94-104. 2012

    Research Overview

  • Gout and other crystalline arthritis
    Vasculitis
    Epidemiology of Rheumatic diseases
  • Education And Training

  • UAB Hospital, Internship
  • UAB Hospital, Residency
  • UAB Hospital, Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • UAB Hospital, Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • Doctor of Medicine in Internal Medicine Residency Program, 1999
  • Full Name

  • Angelo Gaffo