A tophus is a deposit of uric acid crystals, in the form of crystalline monosodium urate, in people with prolonged hyperuricemia (high levels of acids veins in the blood). Tophi is pathognomonic for gout disease. Most people with tophi have experienced previous acute arthritis attacks, which ultimately lead to tophi formation. Chronic tophaceous gout is known as Harrison Syndrome.
Tophi forms in joints, cartilage, bones, and elsewhere throughout the body. Occasionally, the tophi penetrates the skin and appears white or yellowish white, calculi nodules. Without treatment, tophi can develop on average about ten years after the onset of uric acid, although their first appearance can range from three to forty-two years. The development of gout tophi can also limit the function of the joints and cause bone damage, which causes a marked defect, especially when gout is not successfully treated. When uric acid levels and gout symptoms can not be controlled with standard uric acid drugs that decrease the production of uric acid (eg, allopurinol, febuxostat) or increase the elimination of uric acid from the body through the kidneys (eg, probenecid), this may be referred to as chronic gout refractory (RCG). They are more likely to appear early in the course of the disease in older people.
Although less common, tophi can also form in the kidneys and nasal cartilage.
Video Tophus
Additional images
Maps Tophus
See also
- Chondrocalcinosis (pseudogout)
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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