Question

A 42-year-old female office worker presents to your clinic complaining of awakening with an exquisitely tender, red, swollen right knee. She has never had this occur before and has had no history of trauma or recent illness. She has no significant past medical history. A family history reveals that her father had similar problems in middle age. On exam, she has a red, warm, tender right knee with decreased range of motion. Tapping the fluid in the knee showed no signs of infection indicating a probable arthritic cause. The most likely form of arthritis would be:

(A) Rheumatoid arthritis

(B) Degenerative joint disease

(C) Gouty arthritis

(D) Polymyalgia rheumatica

Answer 1

(C) Gouty arthritis

Step-by-step explanation:

Gout, also called gouty arthritis, is a disease characterized by inflammation in the joints. These inflammations are caused by solidification and accumulation of uric acid, which upon crystallization turns into sodium urate. Uric acid is a substance that the body produces when it digests certain types of food. Usually the kidneys are able to eliminate it through the urine. However, when there is excess, it begins to accumulate in the blood. This may not seem like a problem at first. These uric acid crystals cause inflammation, which results in severe pain that can last for weeks and trigger seizures.

The woman exposed in the question has classic symptoms of gout which are: swelling and redness, joint pain, discomfort and difficulty in movement. For this reason, we can say that this woman is a victim of gouty arthritis.

Technically, gout has no cure, but there are treatments that help lessen the uncomfortable symptoms.