Pigmented Villonodular Synovitis of the Glenohumeral Joint and Biceps Tendon Sheath

Abstract

A 34-year-old woman presented with paroxysmal, insidious shoulder pain with effusion. MRI demonstrated a permeative, intermediate-signal lesion on T1 and T2 sequences involving the glenohumeral joint and biceps tendon sheath. The patient was treated with arthroscopic synovectomy, debridement, and subpectoral biceps tenodesis, with histopathology demonstrating pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS).PVNS is an extremely rare lesion of the glenohumeral joint and surrounding extra-articular structures. Awareness of this condition is paramount for timely diagnosis and intervention before joint destruction occurs. Arthroscopic treatment with meticulous attention to surgical technique is a feasible treatment strategy in the absence of end-stage chondral damage.

Clinical outcomes of patients with pigmented villonodular synovitis of the shoulder after arthroscopic synovectomy

“…Nevertheless, the patient refused further follow-up so that the outcome of a long-term follow-up is unavailable. To our knowledge, although only 5 patients and 8 surgeries were enrolled, this study is still one of the studies with the most cases of shoulder PVNS compared to previous case reports and case series focusing on shoulder PVNS [1,2,14,15,17,[21][22][23]. Furthermore, the mean follow-up time of this study is also one of the longest.…”