Arthroscopic treatment of pigmented villonodular synovitis of the shoulder.

Pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) rarely affects the shoulder. Fewer than 30 cases have been reported in the English and French language literature. In those patients, PVNS was treated by open surgery involving total or local synovectomy, sometimes associated with total shoulder replacement, cuff tear repair, or arthroplastic head resection. The authors report 2 cases of PVNS of the shoulder treated arthroscopically and discuss the advantages and limitations of this technique in the treatment of shoulder PVNS.