A 56-year-old man presents to the clinic with sudden onset o…
A 56-year-old man presents to the clinic with sudden onset of severe pain, redness, and swelling in his right big toe that began overnight. He describes the pain as “throbbing” and states that even the bedsheet touching his toe is unbearable. He denies trauma but reports eating steak and drinking several beers the night before symptom onset. On examination, the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint is warm, erythematous, tender, and swollen. He is afebrile, and other joints are unaffected. Laboratory findings show: Serum uric acid: 9.8 mg/dL (elevated) WBC: Mildly elevated Joint aspiration reveals needle-shaped, negatively birefringent crystals under polarized light microscopy. What is the most likely diagnosis?