To compare the histopathological features of the synovium between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA).
We retrospectively analyzed the synovial specimens obtained after synovial surgery in 72 cases of RA and 24 cases of OA. Two independent pathologists reviewed the sections of the synovial tissues with HE staining, quantitatively scored the degree of fibroblast-like synoviocyte (FLS) hyperplasia, vascular hyperplasia, fibroplasia, and lymphocyte infiltration, and examined the presence plasma cell infiltration. The pathological morphology of the synovial tissues was evaluated in relation with the clinical data of the patients.
Pannus formation was also detected in the synovium of OA patients, which showed a lesser degree of OA-FLS hyperplasia, fibrosis and lymphocyte infiltration and a significantly lower rate of plasma cell infiltration compared with the pannus in RA patients. Vascular proliferation was also milder in the pannus of OA patients than in RA pannus, but the difference was not statistically significant. In OA patients, the pannus could be observed under a microscope and was difficult to distinguish from that in RA patients.
Pannus formation occurs also in the synovium of OA patients but with milder FLS hyperplasia, fibrosis and lymphocyte infiltration and a lower rate of plasma cell infiltration compared with the pannus in RA patients. These differences in the pannus between OA and RA can be of potential value in the diagnosis and treatment of the patients.