Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic value of blindly performed synovial biopsies in carefully selected patients with unclassified arthritis.
METHODS: Synovial tissue was obtained blindly under local anaesthesia. The Arthroforce III take-apart 3.5 mm needle and 1.5 mm grasping forceps were used for this purpose.
RESULTS: Four patients with unclassified arthritis could be diagnosed properly based upon examination of synovial tissue of the knee obtained by an easy-to-perform blind biopsy. The arthritis of the four patients was diagnosed as being part of Erdheim-Chester disease, sarcoidosis, multicentric reticulohistiocytosis and arthritis caused by foreign-body material, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of synovial tissue obtained during a blind biopsy procedure has diagnostic potential in carefully selected patients with unclassified arthritis. The common denominator in all the cases presented was a differential diagnosis consisting of a rheumatological disease with characteristic histological features.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 192-195 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Rheumatology |
Volume | 45 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Feb 2006 |
Research programs
- EMC MM-03-24-01
- EMC MUSC-01-31-01
- EMC MUSC-01-51-01