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Tendon Pathology

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These are the terms that I use when describing various

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pathologies involving the tendons, the ankle and foot.

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I would agree that there is controversy about some

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of these terms and they are not used

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consistently in the literature.

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I always turn to the English dictionary when trying

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to come up with proper terms.

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If you go to the English dictionary, the term para, PARA,

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means near or next to it, is not the same as the term per

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Perry means around or surrounding.

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So with that in mind, with those well-known definitions,

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these are the terms that I use.

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Tino synovitis comes in two types.

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I'll show you in a in a minute or two.

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It's inflammation of a tend sheet.

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Parat synovitis represents inflammation of tissues

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around a tendon that has a sheet.

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Para tendonitis relates to inflammation

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of tissues about a tendon peritonitis,

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not peritonitis.

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Peritonitis is inflammation of a perin,

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tendinosis the term.

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Some people say tendinopathy relates to tendon degeneration,

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and we use that term throughout the body when we talk about

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abnormal tendons.

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Let's look at some examples.

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This is Achilles peritonitis.

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Now it may not look like much, but if you have it

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or one of your patients has it,

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these people can have in fact, extensive pain.

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This is what it looks like on a sagittal image,

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and this is the classic appearance on an axial image.

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So classically, not invariably, it is U-shaped

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without covering the anor aspect of the Achilles

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hara, not peri.

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And in some cases, it'll have vertical limbs

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that extend into the pre Achilles fat bed.

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Now, in rare cases, there will be an anterior component,

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hence Achilles peritonitis.

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But in most cases, para tendonitis is the proper term.

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This is Achilles perro tendonitis.

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It is inflammation involving a portion of the pre Achilles,

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uh, fat pad, typically seen along the lower portion

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of the Achilles tendon.

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Now, sometimes you see non-specific edema within this fat

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pad, alright, but if in fact

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that edema is located centrally in front

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of the Achilles tendon between these pontic fibers,

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it is often symptomatic.

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It almost looks like fat

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Pad impingement occurring in that area.

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You see this most frequently in runners

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10 synovitis is inflammation of a tend sheet.

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It comes in two forms.

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Regular teno synovitis shown here, used

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to drive inflammation in the tendon sheet

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and what is called S stenosing, teno synovitis, sometimes

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teno vaginitis.

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It describes inflammation with adhesions

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between the tendon sheet

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and the tendon restricting tendon motion.

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This is a more significant finding than this

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to show you two examples of S stenosing

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penoc synovitis involving the perineals.

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You'll note here case one adhesions

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between the tendon and the sheet.

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And here extensive fibrotic material

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between the tendon and the distended tendon sheet.

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S stenosing teno synovitis.

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Now what do we do when we see Teno synovial fluid about some

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of these tendon groups?

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Well, in general, particularly with regard

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to the medial flexor tendons, small amounts

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of fluid about those medial flexor tendons

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generally considered normal.

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Keeping in mind that even larger amounts about the flexor

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lysis longest tendon in its tendon sheet can be normal

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if you have a large ankle effusion

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because it communicates in a significant number of persons

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with the ankle joint.

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When you have more extensive fluid

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with inflammatory reaction in the adjacent tissues,

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then you're dealing with teno synovitis, in this case,

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posterior tibials, teno synovitis.

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I can't tell you how much fluid changes from

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normal to this condition.

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Alright, I don't think there are any great criteria

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that have been described in the literature.

Report

Faculty

Donald Resnick, MD

Professor Emeritus, Department of Radiology

University of California, San Diego

Christine B. Chung, MD

Professor of Radiology, Executive Vice Chair, and Director of UCSD MSK Imaging Research Lab

UC San Diego

Karen Y. Cheng, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology

University of California, San Diego

Tags

Musculoskeletal (MSK)

MRI

Foot & Ankle