Clinical Study of the Snapping Knee in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Rheumatism and Joint Surgery Vol. 16; no. 2; pp. 179 - 184
• Main Authors: OSHIDA Midori, 黒澤 尚, 矢島 一〓, 川上 明, 大沼 正宏, 岸田 由紀子, 薬丸 一洋
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: 日本関節病学会 1997; Japanese Society for Joint Diseases
• Subjects: arthroscopy; rheumatoid arthritis; rheumatoid nodule; snapping knee
• ISSN: 0287-3214; 1884-9059
• DOI: 10.11551/jsjd1982.16.179

Following arthroscopy, 11 knees of 6 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients were operated on for treatment of snapping knee. Patients ranged in age from 30 to 60 years. Radiographic changes evaluated according to Larsen grade were grade I for 7 knees and grade III for 4 knees. Clinically, the intraarticular nodule was palpable lateral to the inferior aspect of the patella. Snapping occured when the knee was flexed 30-40 degrees. Histologically, the nodule showed typical characteristic features of the RA nodule in 3 knees only, and active rheumatoid synovial mass in 5 knees, while other changes were observed in 3 knees. Arthroscopic findings of synovium in typical RA nodules revealed no inflammation, while the synovial mass cases showed hypertrophic synovial villi.