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Published on: September 19, 2019
12 Cases of Haglund's Syndrome Detected through MRI
Shuwei Zhou1,2, Wuxing Luo1, Siyu Wang1
1Department of Radiology, The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, 95 Shaoshan Middle Road, Yuhua District, Changsha 410007, P.R. China.
Insights
Haglund's syndrome, a cause of heel pain, is often diagnosed using Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging. MR reveals calcaneal bone edema, Achilles tendon issues, and bursitis, aiding clinical diagnosis.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Orthopedics
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Haglund's syndrome is a frequent cause of heel pain, often overlooked clinically.
- It involves impingement of the calcaneus, bursa, and Achilles tendon, making clinical diagnosis challenging.
- Medical imaging is crucial for accurate diagnosis of Haglund's syndrome.
Purpose of the Study:
- To summarize the Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging characteristics of Haglund's syndrome.
- To provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and management of Haglund's syndrome.
- To correlate imaging findings with clinical presentation.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of MR images from 11 clinically confirmed Haglund's syndrome patients.
- Evaluation of morphological changes in the calcaneus and talus.
- Assessment of calcaneal signal, Achilles tendon status, and surrounding soft tissues.
Main Results:
- All 12 ankles exhibited calcaneal posterosuperior prominence and Achilles tendon degeneration.
- Bone marrow edema was present in 7 ankles.
- Findings included Achilles tendinosis (6 ankles), partial Achilles tendon tears (5 ankles), retrocalcaneal bursitis (12 ankles), retro-Achilles bursitis (7 ankles), and Kager's fat pad edema (6 ankles).
Conclusions:
- MR imaging is valuable for diagnosing Haglund's syndrome.
- Key MR findings include calcaneal bone edema, Achilles tendon degeneration/tear, bursitis, and Kager's fat pad edema.
- These imaging features aid in distinguishing Haglund's syndrome from other heel pain causes.
Background:
Haglund's syndrome is a common cause of heel pain but often neglected clinically. Haglund's syndrome refers to a series of symptoms caused by impingement among posterosuperior prominence of the calcaneus, bursa and Achilles tendon. It is difficult to distinguish Haglund's syndrome from other causes of heel pain by clinical diagnosis. Imageology is of great value in the diagnosis of Haglund's syndrome.
Objective:
Our study aims to summarize the Magnet resonance (MR) imaging characteristics of Haglund's syndrome and provide some reference to clinical work.
Method:
We retrospectively analyzed the MR images of 11 patients (6 males; 5 females; 6 right ankles, 4 left ankles, 1 bimalleolar ankles) who have been clinically and radiologically confirmed Haglund's syndrome. Observation contents: morphological changes of calcaneus and talus, abnormal signal of calcaneus, abnormal Achilles tendon, and soft tissue abnormalities around Achilles tendon. Combined with literature reviews, summarize the MR imaging features of Haglund's syndrome.
Results:
In 12 ankles, all ankles showed posterosuperior prominence of the calcaneus and Achilles tendon degeneration; 7 ankles showed bone marrow edema; 6 Achilles tendons were graded as either type II or type III tendinosis; 5 Achilles tendons showed partial tear; 12 ankles showed retrocalcaneal bursitis, 7 ankles showed retro-Achilles bursitis, 6 ankles showed Kager's fat pad edema.
Conclusion:
This study found that MR images of Haglund's syndrome showed bone edema of the calcaneus, degeneration and partial tear of the Achilles tendon, the retrocalcaneal and retro-Achilles bursas, and Kager's fat pad edema.

