[Contribution of synovial biopsy in unclassified arthropathies]

The authors report a retrospective study of the diagnostic usefulness of synovial biopsy (SB) in 80 cases of unspecified forms of joint disease. SB was able to indicate the diagnosis in 23 (28.7%) of these patients. These 23 cases included 4 of the 15 cases (26.6%) of acute monoarticular arthritis, 5 (31.2%) of the 16 cases of acute oligopolyarthritis. In 6 cases (7.5%) SB was also responsible for the elimination of an initial diagnosis of septic arthritis. Overall, therefore, SB contributed to establishing a diagnosis and guiding therapy in 20 (36.2%) patients. Despite these rather low percentages, SB appears to be an essential examination, particularly in monoarticular arthritis, for the confirmation or exclusion of the diagnosis of conditions which present specific histologic signs and which require appropriate treatment.