RESEARCH ARTICLE


The Normal Synovium



Malcolm D Smith*
Rheumatology Unit, Repatriation General Hospital, Daws Road, Daw Park, South Australia, SA 5041, Australia


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Creative Commons License
© Malcolm D. Smith; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Rheumatology Unit, Repatriation General Hospital, Daws Road, Daw Park, South Australia, SA 5041, Australia; Tel: 618 82751819; Fax: 618 83744276; E-mail: malcolm.smith@health.sa.gov.au


Abstract

This paper describes the structure and function of the normal synovium including the cellular content, nerve and vascular supply and how normal synovium maintains homeostasis within the joint. It is important to understand normal synovium before appreciating the changes that occur in the synovial membrane which leads to the pathology seen in inflammatory arthritides such as Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Keywords: Normal synovial membrane, structure, function, nerve supply, vascular supply, alterations in inflammatory arthritis..