Acquired inflammatory superior oblique tendon sheath syndrome. A clinicopathologic study
K. W. Wright, D. Silverstein, A. C. Marrone and R. E. Smith
To our knowledge, this is the first reported clinicopathologic study of a
patient with acquired inflammatory Brown's syndrome. The superior oblique
tendon, trochlea, and anterior superior oblique muscle were surgically
removed en bloc and studied by light microscopy. Surprisingly, the entire
specimen was normal, without signs of inflammation or intrasheath scarring.
The only abnormal finding was found during surgery, which consisted of
perisheath adhesions anterior to the trochlea. These findings indicate that
the cause of acquired inflammatory Brown's syndrome may, in many cases, be
from scarring around the tendon sheath rather than an intrasheath
pathologic condition, as proposed by recent literature.
