Dutcher bodies in chronic synovitis

Dutcher bodies are periodic acid-Schiff-positive intranuclear pseudoinclusions found in plasma cells in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, and myeloma. We describe the case of a 68-year-old woman with chronic synovitis containing multiple Dutcher bodies. The patient's workup for lymphoma was negative. Hematoxylin-eosin- and periodic acid-Schiff-stained sections of 7 cases of marked chronic synovitis selected from the files spanning a 10-year period at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island (Pawtucket, RI) were examined, and none showed Dutcher bodies. This case illustrates that Dutcher bodies may rarely occur in benign reactive conditions, such as chronic synovitis.