The pathology of the involved tendons in patients with familial arthropathy and congenital camptodactyly.

In 2 sisters with congenital camptodactyly and joint effusions, abnormalities in tendons were restricted to the portion within synovial sheaths. This implied a disease of the tenosynovium, rather than one of the tendon itself. In areas of chronic involvement, some tendons were replaced by fibrous tissue. Significant portions of the tendons in fingers with camptodactyly were replaced by hard scars. Congenital camptodactyly is probably the result of an intrauterine tenosynovitis, rather than an isolated congenital anomaly.