On the Nature of Rheumatoid Rice Bodies

Abstract

The nature of rice bodies was studied, utilizing histochemistry, immunofluorescence, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Rice bodies were found to consist primarily of fibrous material, most of which was fibrin with small amounts of collagen. Channels containing a variety of viable cells permeated the rice bodies. Blood vessels occurred in a few rice bodies indicating a former connection with the synovial membrane. Nonvascularized rice bodies might represent a further degeneration of the vascular type. Rice bodies seem to be a nonspecific response to inflammation.

Tenosynovitis with rice body formation in a non-tuberculosis patient: A case report

“…Berg et al suggested in the electron microscopy study of rice bodies obtained from the joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients that non-vascularized rice bodies might have formed de novo as a part of the inflammatory reaction in the synovial fluid (1). Cheung et al reported that the rice bodies arose from infarcted synovial cells and these cells were shed into articular or bursal fluid (5).…”

“…Rice bodies which mainly consist of fibrin are occasionally observed in the joints, bursae, and tendon sheaths among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (1) or tuberculous arthritis and/or tuberculous tenosynovitis (2). However, these rice bodies in tendon sheaths are rarely seen among non-tuberculosis patients.…”

Rheumatoid subacromial-subdeltoid bursitis with rice bodies: A case report

“…There was also the presence of microvasculature and a protein composition similar to the synovial membrane within some rice bodies which suggested that they were derived from infracted synovium. 9,10 Later, Albrecht et al postulated that rice bodies are the end product of synovial inflammation, proliferation, and subsequent secondary degeneration leading to synovial sloughing, which subsequently becomes encased by fibrin derived from synovial fluid. 11 Studies have also shown rice bodies to be associated with osteoarthritis 12e14 and chronic inflammation.…”

Mass of the thenar eminence hiding idiopathic massive rice bodies formation with a compression of the median nerve: Case report and review of the literature

“…Cheung et al suggested that rice bodies arise from infarcted synovial cells, and these cells are shed into articular or bursal fluid [ 6 ]. Berg et al suggested, in an electron microscopy study of rice bodies obtained from the joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients, that non-vascularized rice bodies might have formed de novo as part of an inflammatory reaction in the synovial fluid [ 7 ]. In our case, the patient had no history inflammatory disease, so the cause of rice body formation is still obscure.…”