Inflammation of the Synovial Membrane (Synovitis): Or something else? Differential Diagnosis

Blood, blood-forming organs-immune system (D50-D90).

Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases (E00-E90).

  • Storage diseases such as Fabry disease (synonyms: Fabry disease or Fabry-Anderson disease) – X-linked lysosomal storage disease due to a defect in the gene encoding the enzyme alpha-galactosidase A, resulting in progressive accumulation of the sphingolipid globotriaosylceramide in cells; mean age of manifestation: 3-10 years; early symptoms: Intermittent burning pain, decreased or absent sweat production, and gastrointestinal problems; if left untreated, progressive nephropathy (kidney disease) with proteinuria (increased excretion of protein in urine) and progressive renal failure (kidney weakness) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM; disease of the heart muscle characterized by thickening of the heart muscle walls).

Cardiovascular system (I00-I99).

  • Acute leg vein thrombosis

Infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99).

  • Granulomatous arthropathies such as tuberculosis, which can lead to the formation of nodular changes, including in joints

Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99).

  • Acute synovitis
  • Allergic synovialitis
  • Arthritis in:
    • Lyme disease
    • Psoriasis (psoriatic arthritis)
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Bursitis (bursitis)
  • Chronic synovitis
  • Granulomatous arthropathies such as tuberculosis or sarcoidosis (synonyms: Boeck’s disease; Schaumann-Besnier’s disease) – systemic disease of connective tissue with granuloma formation.
  • Intraosseous ganglion – ganglion located in the bone.
  • Crystal arthropathies such as gout and calcium pyrophosphate arthropathy (pseudogout).
  • Meniscopathy – pathological change in the menisci.
  • Bekhterev’s disease – chronic inflammatory disease of the spine, which can lead to joint stiffness (ankylosis) of the affected joints.
  • Necrotizing fasciitis – foudroyant proceeding, bacterial soft tissue infection of the skin and subcutis, in which the fascia is also affected, by Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS, group A streptococci).
  • Post-infectious arthritis after viral infection such as rubella (rubella), parotitis epidemica (mumps) or HIV.
  • Reactive arthritis (synonym: postinfectious arthritis / joint inflammation) – secondary disease after gastrointestinal (gastrointestinal tract concerning), urogenital (urinary and genital organs concerning) or pulmonary (lungs concerning) infections; refers to an arthritis, where pathogens in the joint (usually) can not be found (sterile synovitis).
  • Reiter’s disease (synonyms: Reiter’s syndrome; Reiter’s disease; arthritis dysenterica; polyarthritis enterica; postenteritic arthritis; posturethritic arthritis; undifferentiated oligoarthritis; urethro-oculo-synovial syndrome; Fiessinger-Leroy syndrome; English Sexually acquired reactive arthritis (SARA)) – special form of a “reactive arthritis” (see above. ); secondary disease after gastrointestinal or urogenital infections, characterized by the symptoms of Reiter’s triad; seronegative spondyloarthropathy, which is triggered especially in HLA-B27 positive persons by an intestinal or urinary tract disease with bacteria (mostly chlamydia); Can manifest as arthritis (joint inflammation), conjunctivitis (conjunctivitis), urethritis (urethritis) and partly with typical skin changes.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis

Neoplasms – tumor diseases (C00-D48)

  • Tumors originating from synovial membrane such as hemangiomas, lipomas or tenosynovial giant cell tumor.

Injuries, poisonings, and other consequences of external causes (S00-T98).

  • Fracture near the joint (fracture of a bone)

Further

  • Joint irritation after surgery
  • Loosening artificial joints