Pseudogout means false gout. Like gout, pseudogout is a form of rheumatoid arthritis. It has a similar clinical presentation as gout (red, swollen, painful joints), but the underlying causes are different.

Treatment for gout has improved steadily over the years. As new information and understanding of the disease process is revealed, better drugs and treatment have been developed. As a result, gout affecting the wrist or hand is fairly rare. And if your main symptoms of gout have been under control, the physicians will naturally look elsewhere for a cause of your new wrist symptoms.

This is the first study of arthroscopic descriptions of what happens inside the wrist affected by gout. Some interesting, new findings are reported.

Gout is an inflammatory process that is known to affect the articular cartilage and subchondral bone. The articular cartilage is the thick, fibrous covering or lining of the joint. Subchondral bone is the first layer of bone just under the cartilage.

Wrist pain from a triangular fibrocartilage (TFC) tear can be very disabling for the athlete. The TFC is a thin, oval plate of fibrous cartilage. It is sometimes referred to as the articular disc or radioulnar disc because of its location between the distal radius and ulna (bones of the forearm). Distal refers to the bottom ends of these two bones where they meet the wrist.

There is some debate about how aggressive (or conservative) to be following surgical repair of the wrist triangular fibrocartilage (TFC). The little band of tissue may be small, but it is tough and serves a wide range of purposes.

Wrist pain can be very disabling for the athlete. This is especially true for gymnasts; tennis, soccer, or volleyball players; and even competitive divers. Pain can occur along either side of the wrist, but when it affects the ulnar wrist (side away from the other hand), surgeons must rule out triangular fibrocartilage (TFC) tears.

Carpal boss or carpal bossing is a bony lump or prominence on the back of the hand, most often at the bottom of the second or middle finger, just above the wrist. Doctors don't know what causes it, but there are theories that range from it's caused from trauma or injury to a degeneration of the bone.

Cake decorating, if you use a bag to squeeze the icing, can cause a repetitive stress injury. The motion of squeezing the bag and moving your hand back and forth, especially for repeating designs, could cause irritation in the carpal tunnel area - on the nerve that passes through. This would cause pain or numbness (or both) in your hand.

de Quervain's tenosynovitis isn't the same thing as tendonitis, but it's close. It's caused by the inflammation and irritation in the tendons on the thumb side of your wrist.

Unfortunately, researchers and doctors don't know what causes it, although they do know that women get it more than men, and the two most common age groups for it are those under 20 years and those 40 years and older.

Right now, no-one knows what causes Keinbock's disease, a disorder where the lunate bone in the wrist is deprived of blood, causing bone cell death. Doctors do know that it's more common between the ages of 20 and 40 years, but that's really about all they know. Perhaps your brother can ask his doctor if he knows of any research in this area.

Yoshiyuki Ando, MD, et al. Temporary Scaphotrapezoidal Joint Fixation for Adolescent Kienbock's Disease.