Imaging study of the painful heel syndrome

A total of 45 patients with the painful heel syndrome without evidence of an associated inflammatory arthritis, seven of whom had pain in both heels, were studied using technetium-99 isotope bone scans and lateral and 45 degrees medial oblique radiographs of both feet. Of the 52 painful heels 31 (59.6%) showed increased uptake of tracer at the calcaneum. Patients with scans showing increased uptake tended to have more severe heel pain and responded more frequently to a local hydrocortisone injection. On plain x-ray, 39 of 52 painful heels (75%) and 24 of the 38 opposite nonpainful heels (63%) showed plantar spurs, compared with five of 63 (7.9%) heels in 59 age- and sex-matched controls. No evidence of stress fractures was seen.