TY - JOUR A2 - Hsu, Tsai Ching AU - Cordova Sanchez, Andres AU - Bisen, Maneesh AU - Khokhar, Farzam AU - May, Adriana AU - Ben Gabr, Jihad PY - 2021 DA - 2021/09/29 TI - Diagnosing Spinal Gout: A Rare Case of Back Pain and Fever SP - 7976420 VL - 2021 AB - Gout is a common inflammatory arthritis that has a high prevalence worldwide. It is characterized by monosodium urate deposition, usually affecting the joints and soft tissue of the lower extremities. Urate deposition in the axial skeleton resulting in spinal gout is rare. However, it seems to be more prevalent than usually thought, largely because it is underdiagnosed. Imaging findings are, for the most part, nonspecific and often mimic infectious etiologies. Definitive diagnosis requires pathological examination. Thus, it can be easily missed. We present a 41-year-old male with a seven-year history of untreated gout who came in with severe back pain, fevers, and radiculopathy. He was initially diagnosed with vertebral osteomyelitis. However, after a biopsy, spinal gout was confirmed. Spinal gout can be misdiagnosed as vertebral osteomyelitis given the similarities in presentation and imaging findings. This case report highlights the importance of keeping spinal gout as a differential of vertebral osteomyelitis, especially in patients with long-standing or uncontrolled gout with tophi. SN - 2090-6889 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/7976420 DO - 10.1155/2021/7976420 JF - Case Reports in Rheumatology PB - Hindawi KW - ER -