Tuberculous Arthritis of the Knee A Report of Three Cases

We present 3 patients who had been suffering from tuberculous arthritis of the knee. Findings at arthroscopy were various and we could not establish a diagnosis. Microscopic analysis of the synovium lead to a definitive diagnosis in 2 cases, and a synovialfluid smear was performed in 1 case. All cases had extensive osseous involvement with loss of joint space, so we treated them by arthrodesis and postoperative antituberculous chemotherapy. We concluded that arthroscopical biopsy of the synovial tissue and demonstration of the appropriate organisms in a histological study are required for the definitive diagnosis of tuberculous arthritis of the knee.