Akademik

Tophus
A nodular mass of uric acid crystals. Tophi are characteristically deposited in different soft tissue areas of the body in gout. The word tophus comes via Latin from the Greek tophos meaning a porous volcanic stone. In chronic (tophaceous) gout, nodular masses of uric acid crystals (tophi) deposit in different soft tissue areas of the body. Even though tophi are most commonly found as hard nodules around the fingers, at the tips of the elbows, and around the big toe, tophi nodules can appear anywhere in the body. They have been reported in unexpected areas such as in the ears, vocal cords, or around the spinal cord!
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1. See gouty t.. 2. A salivary calculus, or tartar. SYN: gouty pearl. [L. a calcareous deposit from springs, tufa]
- gouty t. a deposit of uric acid and urates in periarticular fibrous tissue, cartilage of the external ear, or kidney, in gout. SYN: arthritic calculus, uratoma.

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to·phus 'tō-fəs n, pl to·phi 'tō-.fī, -.fē a deposit of urates in tissues (as cartilage) characteristic of gout

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n. (pl. tophi)
a hard deposit of crystalline uric acid and its salts in the skin, cartilage (especially of the ears), or joints; a feature of gout.

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to·phus (toґfəs) pl. toґphi [L. “porous stone”] a chalky deposit of sodium urate occurring in gout; tophi form most often around joints in cartilage, bone, bursae, and subcutaneous tissue and in the external ear, producing a chronic, foreign-body inflammatory response.

Medical dictionary. 2011.