Thoracic spinal cord compression by a tophus

Abstract

We report a case of thoracic (T10) spinal cord compression by a tophus in a patient with known chronic gout. Spastic paraplegia developed gradually over 6 months in this 43-year-old man with hypertension, alcohol abuse, and chronic gouty arthritis with tophi. Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography visualized an intradural nodule measuring 1.5cm in diameter at the level of T10, as well as geodes in the left T10 lamina and left T9-T10 articular processes. The nodule was removed surgically and shown by histological examination to be a tophus. The neurological impairments resolved rapidly and completely. We found about 60 similar cases in the literature. Spinal cord compression in a patient with chronic gout can be caused by a tophus.