To determine frequency and prevalence of finger pad tophaceous deposits in patients with chronic tophaceous gout.
We examined 36 consecutive patients with chronic tophaceous gout for intracutaneous tophaceous urate deposits in the fingers pads. Subjects were patients of outpatient clinics at 2 large university hospitals, Emory and the University of Pennsylvania Affiliated Hospital Systems.
Finger pad tophaceous deposits were found in 30.5%, which was surprising, given how few cases are reported.
Finger pad tophi may be more common than generally believed.