[Percutaneous synovial biopsy in the diagnostic evaluation of the patient with rheumatic disease]

Forty seven percutaneous synovial biopsies from 22 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, four of whom with the juvenile form, 13 with indetermined polyarthritis and 12 with monoarthritis, were evaluated. The histopathological examination confirmed the clinical diagnosis in 76% of cases with rheumatoide arthritis and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and it suggested the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis in 80% of cases with indetermined polyarthritis. In two cases of monoarthritis it reveled acid-fast bacilli, and a granulomatous process in one. These resuls suggest that the synovial biopsies can be useful for the establishment of diagnosis in patients suffering from indetermined poly or monoarthritis.