Uric Acid Crystal Magnification Pictures

I used images from two gout studies to create this Uric Acid Crystal Magnification Pictures image.

Uric Acid Crystal Magnification Pictures

Magnified Uric Acid Crystal Pictures

My inspiration came from Figure 5 in an investigation of joint changes of human gout[1]. So I started by cropping the first two images from that illustration:
Standard light and compensated polarized light microscopic analysis of synovial fluid (SF) from the monosodium urate (MSU) and allopurinol groups.
Giving me 2 uric acid crystal magnification pictures. One at 400x magnification and the other at 1000x.

Actual Size Uric Acid Crystal Picture

Next, I searched for an actual size photograph of uric acid crystals for comparison to the magnified pictures. Because Jason asked What do Uric Acid Crystals look like?. I found a suitable photograph in a case study[2]. Now the quality of this photograph is not the sharpest. But I cropped it to include the centimeter scale. In this case, the photograph shows millions of uric acid crystals. Significantly, the report describes them…

Examination of his knee revealed a 10 x 8 cm mass in front of the left knee patella, which was hard in consistency, non-tender, and mobile. […] After informed consent the lesion was excised surgically. The prepatellar bursa was found to be filled with a chalky white material with the consistency of toothpaste.

This is consistent with my own experience of uric acid crystals that have oozed from a tophus. The tophus itself feels quite hard but with some mobility. Just like a sealed, packed, tube of toothpaste. But once the crystals are unconfined they are gooier[3]. With a soft silky feel.

Uric Acid Crystal Pictures Descriptions

Finally, I added text notes to the pictures:

Enhanced Multiple Uric Acid Crystals Picture

400 x actual size under polarizing light. Crystals show as bright bars.

Extra Enlarged Single Uric Acid Crystal Picture

1000 x actual size under standard light. Crystal shows as a dark line.

Actual Millions Of Uric Acid Crystals Picture

Actual size with cm scale. Crystals show as toothpaste lump.

Your Uric Acid Crystal Magnification Pictures

Be careful when you look at magnified uric acid crystals. Because you might see descriptions like “sharp” or “needle-like”. But this is a distortion caused by magnification[4]. Because at human scale, uric acid crystals are soft and silky, like toothpaste.

So disregard any description of uric acid crystals cutting into joints or similar rhetoric. In reality, the sharp pain of gout is caused by your immune system reaction – not sharp crystals.

Leave Uric Acid Crystal Magnification Pictures to read Uric Acid Crystal Pictures.

Uric Acid Crystal Magnification Pictures References

  1. Pineda, Carlos, Arturo J. Fuentes-Gómez, Cristina Hernández-Díaz, Yessica Zamudio-Cuevas, Javier Fernández-Torres, Ambar López-Macay, Ismael Alba-Sánchez et al. “Animal model of acute gout reproduces the inflammatory and ultrasonographic joint changes of human gout.” Arthritis research & therapy 17, no. 1 (2015): 1-9.
  2. Kosmoliaptsis, V., and R. Soni. “Tophaceous gout mass distending the prepatellar bursa.” JCR: Journal of Clinical Rheumatology 13, no. 6 (2007): 359.
  3. Forum Members. “Tophi or not tophi“. Your Gout Friend (Sept 30, 2008). Archived Nov 15, 2020.
  4. Keith Taylor. “What can you see at 1000x magnification?” Facts for Shrewdies (Nov 15, 2020).

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