ATYPICAL GOUT: SPINAL TOPHACEOUS INJURY

Spinal injury in gout occurs rarely at a young age. In the past 5 years, the Pubmed has published only 44 papers on this site of tophi mainly in gouty patients over 40 years of age. We report two such cases in patients with chronic tophaceous gout in a 28-year-old man with a 3-year history of gout and in a 30-year-old man with its 7-year history. In both cases, spinal injury with tophus masses gave rise to neurological symptomatology. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were of informative value in identifying the causes of pain. In one case, the patient underwent laminectomy; histological evidence confirmed the gouty genesis of spinal injury.