Arthroscopical Changes of the Synovial Membrane in Rheumatoid Arthritis
In 23 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, knee arthroscopy has been performed with macroevaluation of changes of the synovium. Arthroscopy was performed using arthroscope 2.4 mm (Karl Storz GmbH, Tuttlingen, Germany). We evaluated following changes of the synovium: type of hyperplasia, vascularization, the presence of atrophic changes, pannus and fibrin, villi form. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, lasting up to 2 years, in the synovial membrane inflammatory hyperplasia and signs of angiogenesis predominate, which is the cause of inflammatory exudative reaction dominance in the early stages of disease pathogenesis. In patients with a long history of rheumatoid arthritis synovial hyperplasia prevailed to form clavate villi, atrophic changes and the presence of fibrin clots, showing the development of proliferative and destructive changes in the subsequent stages of the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.