[Infratemporal gout tophus--a rare differential diagnosis in primary parotid gland disease].

Soft-tissue tophi can be observed in up to 50% of patients with primary gout. They are firm deposits of monosodium urate in crystal form, which develop from pinhead-size to egg-size in the subcutaneous tissue. In the field of ear, nose, and throat diseases tophi have been described in such rare locations as the wing of the nose, the tongue, the epiglottis, and the arytenoid and thyroid cartilage. Tophus formation at the temporomandibular joint with extension into the fossa infratemporalis has been mentioned only three times in the world literature. -In the present paper, the authors report on the extraordinary location of an urate tophus in the fossa infratemporalis - in this case, there was even destruction of the middle base of the skull - which had been misinterpreted for years, having been diagnosed as a primary disease of the parotid gland.