[Synovial sarcoma. Anatomoclinical aspects apropos of 8 cases]

Synovialosarcoma is a rare tumor, of difficult diagnosis. Authors report 8 cases diagnosed in the two pathology departments of Salah Azaïz Institute and the Universitary Hospital of Sfax, from 1985 to 1991. This tumor represents 2.96% of all soft tissues sarcomas treated in Salah Azaïz Institute. It occurs in young adults (the average age in our series: 28.8 years) with a male predominance (6 out of 8 cases), localized preferentially in the lower extremity. In the histological study, immunohistochemistry provides a great contribution in the diagnosis and classification of these tumors. The histoprognosis grading of Trojani applied to our cases shows the good correlation between the grade and the prognosis. Treatment is primarily surgical, consisting in wide excision to avoid recurrences that are unfortunately very frequent. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy give very inconstant results. Some authors recommend radiotherapy to sterilize the tumor field, and chemotherapy to prevent metastasis. The clinical course is characterized by a high frequency of local recurrences and pulmonary metastases.