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Case Reports
. 2018 Mar;52(2):162-165.
doi: 10.1016/j.aott.2017.04.008. Epub 2017 Jun 12.

An unusual presentation of synovial chondromatosis of the knee in a 10-year-old girl

Hyung Joon Cho  1 , Jung Dong Suh  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

An unusual presentation of synovial chondromatosis of the knee in a 10-year-old girl

Hyung Joon Cho et al. Acta Orthop Traumatol Turc. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Synovial chondromatosis commonly occurs in the anterior compartment of the knee joint, predominantly in middle-aged men. It is relatively unusual in female children and is rarely encountered in the synovium beneath the meniscus. The present report describes a rare case of synovial chondromatosis that developed in the synovium just inferior to both menisci of the right knee in a 10-year-old girl. At this unusual age and location, there is a greater probability of missed diagnosis, due to the lack of definite informative incidence, and difficulty in finding the lesions during arthroscopic examinations. In the present case, multiple loose bodies were hidden by the meniscus, and thus, there were no structural abnormalities in the initial arthroscopic views before probing the meniscus. After careful inspection, we found numerous cartilaginous loose bodies and removed them as much as possible with arthroscopy.

Keywords: Knee; Meniscus; Synovial chondromatosis.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Magnetic resonance imaging. T2 axial (A) and PD sagittal (B) MRI showed innumerable low signal intensity, tiny, nodular lesions (arrowhead) in the anterior and posterior parts of the knee just inferior to both menisci. T1 sagittal (C) MRI, which were cut with the same slice cut as in Fig. 1B, showed obscure synovial lesions without mass configuration.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Arthroscopic view. Initial arthroscopic view (A) of the medial compartment through the anterolateral portal showed normal configuration of the articular cartilage and meniscus. Elevation of medial (B) and lateral (C, D) menisci reveled multiple cartilaginous loose bodies.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Gross photograph. There were numerous brilliant white, cartilage-like loose bodies each with an average diameter of 2–5 mm.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Histological examination of a retrieved loose body. Note that the body was composed of hyaline cartilage which was located beneath the thin synovial layer (arrow). Hyaline cartilage was filled interiorly with clusters of chondrocyte (hematoxylin and eosin stain, ×40).
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