PACHYDERMOPERIOSTOSIS - STUDIES ON SYNOVIUM

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 5  (1) , 85-95
Abstract
Pachydermoperiostosis (primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy) is a familial disorder characterized by clubbing, periosteal bone changes and furrowing of the skin. A 40-yr-old male with this syndrome and chronic arthritis was recently studied. The synovial fluid was non-inflammatory. Histologically the synovium exhibited hyperplasia and microvascular alterations. Immunofluorescent staining failed to identify deposits of immunoglobulin. EM revealed multilayered basement laminae around small subsynovial blood vessels but no electron-dense deposits as described in studies of hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy. The pathogenesis is obscure and appears to be non-immunological.