Pigmented Villonodular Synovitis of the Temporomandibular Joint Presenting as a Middle Cranial Fossa Tumor

Abstract

p t d a T t Pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) is an infrequently occurring proliferative lesion arising from the synovial membranes of particular body joints, bursae, and associated tendon sheaths. This condition was first described by Jaffe et al in 1941 and has an annual incidence of 1.8 cases per 1 million individuals in the United States. PVNS is related to a family of lesions ncluding pigmented villonodular tenosynovitis and igmented villonodular bursitis, with the diagnosis epending on the anatomic area involved. Both nodlar and diffuse forms of PVNS are currently recogized. The most common nodular patterns associted with PVNS include giant cell tumor, xanthoma, anthogranuloma, and myeloplaxoma, with each orm generally tending to affect a discrete part of the ynovium. Diffuse PVNS, which typically affects the entire synovium, has been referred to as giant cell fibrohemangioma, chronic hemorrhagic villous synovitis, and benign polymorphocellular tumor. Alhough PVNS can occur in virtually any joint of the uman body, approximately 80% of cases involve the nee, with the hip, ankle, foot, hand, elbow, and houlder accounting for almost all other cases. To our nowledge, PVNS involvement of the temporomanibular joint (TMJ) is very uncommon, with only 45 ases reported in the literature since 1973 (Table 1).