GOUT

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES

      • Soft tissue swelling
      • Eccentric or asymmetrical
      • Increased st density progressing to calcification (Tophi)
      • Juxtaarticular punched out erosions
      • Arthritis mutilans

CHARACTERISTIC DISTRIBUTION

      • 1st MTPJ in acute disease
      • Intertarsal joints
      • At Quadriceps and Patellar tendon attachments

Idiopathic or secondary (especially drugs, diuretics, haemolysis, Renal disease)
Often asymptomatic - arthritis or renal calculi in 20%
Takes 4 – 6 years for radiological signs to develop, therefore rarely seen nowadays