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Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases logoLink to Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
. 1999 May;58(5):261–263. doi: 10.1136/ard.58.5.261

Identification of crystals in synovial fluid

P DIEPPE 1, A SWAN 1
PMCID: PMC1752883  PMID: 10225806

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Figure 1  .

Figure 1  

Monosodium urate monohydrate crystals from a gouty tophus viewed under polarised light. Note the strong birifringence, needle shaped morphology and "flaring" that help distinguish them from other crystals.

Figure 2  .

Figure 2  

Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals extracted from the synovial fluid of a patient with pseudogout viewed under polarised light microscopy. Note the variation in size and morphology of the crystals, and the fact that some of the particles do not appear to exhibit birifringence.

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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