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Ann Rheum Dis 2000;59:506-511 ( July )

Review

Synovial biopsy in arthritis research: five years of concerted European collaboration

Barry Bresnihan^a, Paul Peter Tak^b, Paul Emery^c, Lars Klareskog^d, Ferdinand Breedveld^e

^a Department of Rheumatology, St Vincents University Hospital, Dublin 4, Ireland, ^b Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, ^c Rheumatology Research Unit, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom, ^d Rheumatology Unit, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, ^e Department of Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands

Correspondence to: Professor Bresnihan Email: b.bresnihan@svcpc.ie

Accepted for publication 1 May 2000

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

	Introduction

The term rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was first proposed by Garrod in 1859.¹ By 1959, the histopathological features of synovitis, the proliferating pannus, and cartilage degradation in longstanding RA had been well described.² Early histopathological studies were based on tissue samples obtained at surgery or at postmortem examinations. Occasionally, biopsy samples were obtained for analysis from patients with arthritis undergoing open arthrotomy.

	Needle biopsy of synovium

The initial interest in developing synovial biopsy techniques was to aid the differential diagnosis of joint diseases. In 1932 Forestier described a technique for obtaining synovial tissue with a dental nerve extractor that was introduced into the joint through a large calibre needle.³ He never published his results. Early experience with needle biopsy of the synovium was described in the 1950s.^4 5 It was concluded that if strict aseptic techniques were employed, the procedure was safe and practical for use in both hospital wards and outpatient clinics. However, the biopsy needles tended . . . [Full text of this article]

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