The authors gathered 78 cases of gouty arthritis reported in Japan between 1898 and 1960, and analysed them statistically. 1. The incidence of gouty arthritis appears to have increased since about the end of the 2nd World War, especially since 1955. 2. The age of the presumptive onset of the disease is lower in Japanese than in white populations. 3. In many cases, the gouty patients were wrongly diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis, synovitis or panaritium patients, and only 20 per cent of the cases examined were diagnosed correctly at the first consultation. The author stresses that diagnosis at an early stage is necessary to avoid serious complications such as cardiovascular and renal involvements. If the condition is satisfactorily controlled by diets and drugs, however, the prognosis for gouty patients is excellent.

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