A rare case of gouty arthropathy in the spine complicated with acute cord compression.

Gout is one of the most common inflammatory arthropathies in the developed world. However, involvement of the spine is relatively rare, and other sinister differential diagnoses will need to be considered. We describe an unusual case of gouty tophi deposition within the spine in an elderly patient presenting with signs and symptoms of acute cord compression. Important differential diagnoses that need to be excluded include bony metastases from underlying malignancy and other infective/inflammatory causes. Early recognition of imaging findings can avoid delayed or inappropriate medical treatment.

Pictorial review of computed tomography features of diffuse cystic lung disease.

Diffuse cystic lung disease represents a diverse group of uncommon disorders that has been increasingly diagnosed due to the increasing use of computed tomography. It poses a frequent diagnostic challenge to radiologists due to the similar clinical and radiological features these diseases share. This pictorial review includes selected cases from the Hospital Authority New Territories West Cluster (NTWC) in Hong Kong from the past 3 years. It will illustrate the spectrum of diffuse cystic lung diseases, including some rarer entities in our locality, and identify the pertinent differentiating imaging features on CT. A flowchart to summarize these features is provided at the end to aid in diagnosis.