Rice bodies (musculoskeletal)

Changed by Ayush Goel, 2 Oct 2014

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Rice bodies are multiple small loose bodies that resemble polished grains of rice. They can be seen in the synovial fluid or bursae.

Pathology

The cause of formation of these loose bodies has been debatable. Proposed theories suggest that it may be due to shedding of infarcted synovium or it may develop independently, which then gets encased by fibrin.

They may be seen in:

arthritis
- tuberculous arthritis
- other infectious arthritis
- rheumatoid arthritis
chronic synovitis
chronic bursitis

Radiographic features

MRI

T1: iso-hypointense
T2: hypointense

Differential diagnosis

synovial ~~osteochondromatosis~~chondromatosis
- high T2 signal (when non-mineralised)

~~-<li><a title="Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)" href="/articles/rheumatoid-arthritis">rheumatoid arthritis</a></li>~~
+<li><a href="/articles/rheumatoid-arthritis">rheumatoid arthritis</a></li>
~~-<a title="synovial osteochondromatosis" href="/articles/synovial-chondromatosis">synovial osteochondromatosis</a><ul><li>high T2 signal</li></ul>~~
+<a href="/articles/synovial-chondromatosis">synovial chondromatosis</a><ul><li>high T2 signal (when non-mineralised)</li></ul>

References changed:

1. O'Brien WT. Top 3 Differentials in Radiology. Thieme. (2011) ISBN:B005TJOKB2. <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBNB005TJOKB2">Read it at Google Books</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005TJOKB2">Find it at Amazon</a><span class="auto"></span>
2. Chau CL, Griffith JF, Chan PT et-al. Rice-body formation in atypical mycobacterial tenosynovitis and bursitis: findings on sonography and MR imaging. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2003;180 (5): 1455-9. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2214/ajr.180.5.1801455">doi:10.2214/ajr.180.5.1801455</a> - <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12704068">Pubmed citation</a><span class="auto"></span>

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