Pathology · patient case question
A patient with gout takes allopurinol. What would you expect to find in the temporomandibular joint?
Patient case: The medically complex patient in the chair
Scenario: Three management questions in patients with cardiovascular and metabolic disease.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Monosodium urate crystals
- A. Amyloid deposition affects joints only in dialysis-related amyloidosis, a rare and unrelated entity.
- B. Correct. Gout is deposition of monosodium urate crystals in and around joints; allopurinol lowers uric acid production by inhibiting xanthine oxidase.
- C. Calcium pyrophosphate crystals cause pseudogout (chondrocalcinosis), a different crystal arthropathy not treated with allopurinol.
- D. Cholesterol clefts appear in odontogenic cysts and chronic inflammatory lesions, not in joints.