MSU: monosodium urate ULT: urate-lowering therapy INTRODUCTION The natural history of gout includes 4 progressive stages (asymptomatic hyperuricemia, acute arthritic attacks, intercritical gout, and chronic gouty arthritis). Asymptomatic hyperuricemia is characterized by elevated serum urate. Deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in articular and periarticular tissues then instigates ac...

Gout is a common rheumatic disease in humans which is characterized by elevation in serum uric acid levels, and deposition of uric acid crystals in the joint. Hyperuricaemia is the primary risk factor for the development of gout and primates have uniquely high levels of serum uric acid due to missense mutations in the uricase gene. Levels of serum uric acid are known to be highly heritable, and...

The sparing effect of hemiplegia on the development of tophaceous gout is described. The useless upper limb had no tophaceous deposits and the partially paralysed lower limb had only limited urate deposits. Disuse was presumably the major contributor to the limited deposition of urates on the paralysed side.

Gout is a clinical disorder caused by deposition of urate crystals in a joint leading to acute inflammatory response with acute pain. In severe and longstanding gout, the crystals accumulate in soft tissues such as cartilage, subcutaneous tissue or even veins leading to the development of tophi responsible for very large deposit formations and disability. Most cases of gout present with the sud...

Gout is the most common type of inflammatory arthritis in man caused by deposition of urate crystals into the joints as the result of elevated serum urate levels. A case of a 59-year-old patient with untreated, long-lasting gout and clinical manifestation of decompensated global dilated cardiomyopathy is presented. Examination revealed generalized pitting edema extending from both lower extremi...

Destructive osteoarthritis is characterised by rapidly progressive joint destruction associated with intra-articular deposition of hydroxyapatite crystals. The possible role of such crystals in the pathogenesis of this condition was investigated by testing the ability of hydroxyapatite crystals to stimulate the production of bone resorbing activity from mouse peritoneal macrophages. Urate cryst...

Background Gout is a painful arthritis associated with high serum urate levels (hyperuricaemia) and subsequent crystal deposition in joints. Although not all people with Asymptomatic Hyperuricaemia (AH) develop gout, crystal deposition and sub-clinical joint damage have been observed in this population. Gout most commonly affects the first metatarsophalangeal joint (1MTP). Existing theories sug...

Acute gout attacks and the long-term complications of gout are associated with the deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) monohydrate crystals in the joints and soft tissues, causing acute and chronic inflammation. The aim of long-term treatment is to reduce the serum urate (sUA) level to 6 mg/dl (< or =360 micromol/l), below the saturation point of MSU, so that new crystals cannot form and exist...

Gout is a metabolic disease characterized by hyperuricemia and the deposition of monosodium urate crystals in different anatomical locations. We report the case of a 61-year-old man who received consultation for gouty tophi in the penis, which is an unusual location for this type of pathology, that was resolved with the surgical removal of the tophi. We provide a review on gout and its treatmen...