A 61-year-old man with a history of gout and type 2 diabetes presents with 18 hours of severe right knee pain and swelling. He reports no trauma. Temperature is 38.8°C and heart rate is 104 bpm. The right knee is markedly swollen, warm, and tender with severely limited range of motion. Arthrocentesis yields 40 mL of cloudy, yellow-green fluid. Synovial fluid analysis shows a WBC of 72,000/μL with 88% PMNs and a glucose of 14 mg/dL (serum glucose 126 mg/dL). Polarized light microscopy identifies negatively birefringent needle-shaped crystals. Gram stain results are pending.
Which of the following best characterizes the pattern of this patient's synovial fluid?