Pigmented villonodular synovitis: correlation of angiographic and histologic findings

Pigmented villonodular synovitis has a variable histologic appearance, Jaffe and others propose this reflects maturation of the process with the early cellular hypervascular phase giving way to subsequent hyalinization and fibrosis. A case of avascular pigmented villonodular synovitis in the foot was encountered and surgically verified. Eight cases of the disease were then reviewed and graded subjectively for their cellularity, vascularity, and fibrosis. The avascular case was the most hyalinized and "mature" of the group. Two other cases with the typical findings of a hypervascular arteriogram were histologically less hyalinized. These findings suggest a possible role for arteriography in determining the natural history of the disease and support Jaffe's view of its evolution.