Surface study of tenosynovium in hens and humans by electron microscopy.

A comparative study has been made of the surface structure of the tenosynovium in flexor tendon apparatus obtained from hens and humans. Three different parts of the visceral, and parietal layers, and vincula were observed by scanning electron microscopy. Lining cells of the visceral layer are relatively flat and enmeshed with filamentous fibrils, while those of the parietal layer and the vincula are covered with vesicular and granular particles. Intercellular space is occupied with a close meshwork of filamentous fibrils. These findings are similar in both hens and humans. It is, thus, suggested that the cellular structure varies in the three different parts of the tenosynovium probably in relation to their function.