Synovial chondromatosis of the spine. Case report. Literature review

Abstract

Primary synovial chondromatosis represents an uncommon benign neoplastic process with hyaline cartilage nodules in the synovial tissue of a joint tendon sheath or bursa. The nodules may enlarge and detach from the synovium. Numerous data is available about the synovial chondromatosis of the knee joint, followed by the hip and ankle. Although much has been written about synovial chondromatosis of the large joints, only few case reports of synovial chondromatosis of the spine reported in the English literature. Synovial chondromatosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis when evaluating additional mass in epidural and/or paraspinal tissue near a facet joint, especially when there is evidence of bone erosion, dark signal or nodules on T1 and/or T2, fluid or myxoid signal centrally with thin or nodular peripheral enhancement. Compression on bone and nerves is caused by calcified loose or attached to synovium bodies.