Giant Synovial Chondromatosis of the Shoulder: The Limits of Arthroscopic Treatment and Technical Tips

Synovial chondromatosis (SC) is a rare disease. It is a chondrocytic metaplasia and is characterized by the presence of cartilaginous loose bodies in the involved joint, bursa or tendon sheath, it occurs most often in those aged 30_50 years and 3 times more in males than females, The shoulder is an exceptional location. It causes significant functional disability in young people. The clinical presentation is not specific, and the diagnosis is based on MRI. Confirmation is still anatomopathological. Classically, the mainstay treatment for SC of the shoulder has been open arthrotomy and removal of loose bodies, followed by either complete or partial synovectomy, removing the affected tissue, with recent advances in arthroscopic techniques and methods, arthroscopy becomes the gold standard. We present this case report of a 26-year-old man, who was left-hand dominant, a maintenance technician, amateur football player presented a left shoulder inflammatory pain; ; plain radiography demonstrated multiple calcific densities over the glenohumeral joint , the MRI showed multiple calcified intra-articular loose bodies around the anterior and posterior joint and axillary recess ; At arthroscopy, a large number of loose bodies were observed together with marked synovitis ,it only allowed the removal of small foreign bodies < 1 cm, partial synovectomy was performed with a shaver ; anatomopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of sc. the extraction of giant fragments >2 cm was impossible so it was subsequently removed by open surgery. This was carried out one month later using a delto-pectoral approach: all foreign bodies > 1 cm were successfully extracted. We report this case report in order to review the role of shoulder arthroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosis and treatment and to highlight the operative difficulties, technical tips of arthroscopic extraction of giant Synovial chondromatosis of the shoulder.