MR Imaging of Overuse Injuries of the Achilles Tendon
Pertti T. Karjalainen1,
Kalevi Soila1,2,
Hannu J. Aronen1,3,
Harri K. Pihlajamäki4,
Olli Tynninen5,
Timo Paavonen5 and
Phillip F. J. Tirman6
1
Department of Radiology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Haartmaninkatu
4, FIN-00290, Helsinki, Finland.
2
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, 4300 Alton Rd.,
Miami Beach, FL 33140.
3
Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospital of Kuopio, P. O. Box
1777, FIN-70211, Kuopio, Finland.
4
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Helsinki University Central
Hospital, Topeliuksenkatu 5, FIN-00260, Helsinki, Finland.
5
Helsinki University Central Hospital Diagnostics, P. O. Box 401, FIN-00290,
Helsinki, Finland.
6
San Francisco MR Imaging Center, 3333 California St., Ste. 105, San Francisco,
CA 94118.

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Fig. 1A. 23-year-old woman with long-standing pain in left Achilles tendon.
Right asymptomatic Achilles tendon shows normal appearance on axial
high-resolution T1-weighted spoiled gradient-echo MR image (TR/TE,
600/10).
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Fig. 1B. 23-year-old woman with long-standing pain in left Achilles tendon.
MR image shows left leg with anterior convexity (arrow) and
thickening of Achilles tendon as a sign of tendinosis. Note lack of
intratendinous signal changes.
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Fig. 2. 33-year-old man with symptomatic Achilles tendinosis. Sagittal
T1-weighted spin-echo MR image (TR/TE, 460/14) shows anterior bulging and
thickening (arrow) of tendon as evidence of tendinosis.
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Fig. 3A. Intratendinous lesion of painful Achilles tendon in 38-year-old man.
Axial high-resolution T1-weighted spoiled gradient-echo MR image (TR/TE,
600/10) shows large intermediate-signal-intensity intratendinous lesion in
thickened Achilles tendon. Note thickened paratenon (arrow) posterior
to Achilles tendon.
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Fig. 4A. 39-year-old woman with long-standing Achilles tendon pain. Axial
T1-weighted spoiled gradient-echo MR image (TR/TE, 600/10) shows large
intratendinous lesion with radiating stripes to surface of tendon.
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Fig. 4B. 39-year-old woman with long-standing Achilles tendon pain.
Corresponding fast short tau inversion recovery MR image (4700/30) shows
lesion with high-signal-intensity center. Paratenon posterior to
intratendinous lesion exhibits increased intensity, suggesting paratenonitis
(arrow).
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Fig. 4D. 39-year-old woman with long-standing Achilles tendon pain. Proton
density-weighted (C) and T2-weighted (D) MR images show
intermediate- and high-signal-intensity center of lesion, respectively.
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Fig. 5. Retrocalcaneal bursitis in 20-year-old woman. Sagittal fast short
tau inversion recovery MR image shows enlargement of bursae caused by
excessive fluid. Achilles tendon insertion to calcaneus has normal
appearance.
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Fig. 3C. Intratendinous lesion of painful Achilles tendon in 38-year-old man.
Proton density-weighted (2100/20) (C) and T2-weighted spin-echo
(2100/80) (D) MR images exhibit very mild intratendinous changes.
Paratenon is poorly demarcated compared with high-resolution image in
A.
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Fig. 3D. Intratendinous lesion of painful Achilles tendon in 38-year-old man.
Proton density-weighted (2100/20) (C) and T2-weighted spin-echo
(2100/80) (D) MR images exhibit very mild intratendinous changes.
Paratenon is poorly demarcated compared with high-resolution image in
A.
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Fig. 6A. 22-year-old woman with clinical diagnosis of tendinosis of insertion
of Achilles tendon. Sagittal fast short tau inversion recovery (STIR) MR image
shows increased signal intensity (arrows) in calcaneal bone marrow as
sign of reactive edema. Also, retrocalcaneal bursa and adjacent Kager's fat
pad show increased signal intensity.
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Fig. 6B. 22-year-old woman with clinical diagnosis of tendinosis of insertion
of Achilles tendon. On axial T1-weighted spoiled gradient-echo fast low-angle
shot (FLASH) MR image, calcaneal bone marrow has normal appearance.
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Fig. 6C. 22-year-old woman with clinical diagnosis of tendinosis of insertion
of Achilles tendon. Axial STIR MR image corresponding to B shows
increased signal intensity in calcaneal bone marrow at insertion of Achilles
tendon (arrow).
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Fig. 6D. 22-year-old woman with clinical diagnosis of tendinosis of insertion
of Achilles tendon. Axial FLASH image at level of calcaneal corner shows
anteriorly located intratendinous lesion (arrow).
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Fig. 6E. 22-year-old woman with clinical diagnosis of tendinosis of insertion
of Achilles tendon. Axial STIR image, corresponding to D, shows
retrocalcaneal bursitis (arrows) typically associated with other
insertional findings.
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Fig. 7B. Various patterns of peritendinitis on fast short tau inversion
recovery MR images. 32-year-old woman with increased signal intensity in
Kager's fat pad anterior to Achilles tendon, sign of anterior
peritendinitis.
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Fig. 8A. 20-year-old man with anterior peritendinitis in Kager's fat pad.
Sagittal T1-weighted spin-echo MR image shows abnormal low-signal-intensity
strands in Kager's fat pad anterior to normal Achilles tendon.
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Fig. 8B. 20-year-old man with anterior peritendinitis in Kager's fat pad.
Abnormal high-signal-intensity changes are seen on sagittal fast short tau
inversion recovery MR image.
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Fig. 7C. Various patterns of peritendinitis on fast short tau inversion
recovery MR images. 20-year-old man with both anterior and posterior
peritendinitis (posteriorly also called paratenonitis).
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Fig. 9B. Various patterns of thickening of paratenon on high-resolution
T1-weighted spoiled gradient-echo MR fast low-angle shot images. 24-year-old
man with Achilles tendinosis shows moderately thickened paratenon
(arrows) and thickened Achilles tendon.
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Fig. 9C. Various patterns of thickening of paratenon on high-resolution
T1-weighted spoiled gradient-echo MR fast low-angle shot images. 48-year-old
man with long-standing achillodynia. Posterior paratenon (arrows) is
severely thickened. Note also large intratendinous lesion extending to surface
of abnormally thickened tendon indicating tendinosis.
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Fig. 3B. Intratendinous lesion of painful Achilles tendon in 38-year-old man.
Corresponding fast short tau inversion recovery MR image (4700/30) shows low
signal intensity in lesion and moderately increased intensity in posterior
paratenon (arrow).
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Fig. 4C. 39-year-old woman with long-standing Achilles tendon pain. Proton
density-weighted (C) and T2-weighted (D) MR images show
intermediate- and high-signal-intensity center of lesion, respectively.
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Fig. 3E. Intratendinous lesion of painful Achilles tendon in 38-year-old man.
Light photomicrograph of histopathology of intratendinous lesion shows weak
collagen staining and derangement of tendon fibers. (van Gieson stain,
x200)
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Fig. 4E. 39-year-old woman with long-standing Achilles tendon pain. Light
photomicrograph of histopathology of lesion shows presence of rounded tenocyte
nuclei (arrows) with some normal spindle-shaped nuclei in Achilles
tendon tissue. (H and E, x400)
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Fig. 4F. 39-year-old woman with long-standing Achilles tendon pain. Light
photomicrograph shows damaged Achilles tendon tissue with extensive capillary
proliferation. Arrows indicate some single vessels. Note also high number and
round morphology of tenocyte nuclei. (H and E, x400)
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Fig. 7A. Various patterns of peritendinitis on fast short tau inversion
recovery MR images. 25-year-old man with small intratendinous lesion
(arrow) and increased signal intensity posteriorly as sign of
associated paratenonitis.
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Fig. 9A. Various patterns of thickening of paratenon on high-resolution
T1-weighted spoiled gradient-echo MR fast low-angle shot images. 32-year-old
asymptomatic male volunteer shows normal, intermediate-signal-intensity
paratenon deep to low-signal-intensity chemical shift artifact between
paratenon and subcutaneous fat.
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