A Study of Regenerated Synovium After Synovectomy of the Knee in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract The knee joints of 12 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were biopsied to study the regenerated synovium 6 months to 6 years after synovectomy. Three of the 12 patients had clinical and microscopic evidence of the recurrence of rheumatoid inflammation. Biopsies in the remaining 9 patients all showed mild‐to‐moderate synovitis. In 4 of these 9 patients who were biopsied at intervals of 31/2 to 6 years after synovectomy, microscopic features of rheumatoid inflammation were quantitatively less severe than those observed in the initial specimens.