Gouty Arthritis of the Axial Skeleton: A Case Report
We present a case of a patient with systemic gout disease who did not receive any treatments for
10 years. A seventy-one-year-old male came to our attention for physical weariness, chest discomfort, a mild fever for more than a month and right knee pain.
His blood test and laboratory data showed elevated white blood cell, uric acid and C-reactive protein.
The bone scintigraphy showed increased radioactive tracer suggestive of multiple arthritis including axial skeleton. Whole body computed tomography scan showed multiple areas of bone erosion and tophi, especially in the sternoclavicular joints, stern costal joints and facet joints of lumbar spine.
Gouty arthritis typically affects the peripheral joints of the appendicular
skeleton, especially feet and hands. Systemic gout disease affects not only the peripheral joints
of the appendicular skeleton, but also the axial skeleton.
Although joint aspiration is needed to detect monosodium urate crystals,
both scintigraphy and CT scan are powerful means
to diagnose gouty arthritis at the same time.
Gout results from the deposition of monosodium urate crystals in joints and soft tissues.
Gout was historically known as “disease of kings” or “rich men’s disease” and has been
described since ancient Egyptians.
It commonly occurs in the extremities, especially the first metatarsophalangeal joint.
Systemic gout disease has been described in a limited number of cases.
We present a case of a patient with systemic gout disease who did not receive any treatments for 10 years.
Osteol Rheumatol Open J. 2016; 1(1): 10-13. doi: 10.17140/ORHOJ-1-104
