Technical Report No. 19-85
Para-acetabular peritendinitis calcarea; its radiographic manifestations
Kawashima A, Murayama S, Ohuchida T, Russell WJEditor’s note: A publication based on this report was published in Skeleta Radiol 17:476-82, 1988.
Summary
Peritendinitis calcarea and os acetabuli have long been confused during interpretations of hip-joint radiographs. Such confusion is reflected in the medical literature. The present study differentiated these two entities according to their interval radiographic progression and regression.
There were 137 instances of para-acetabular calcifications among 110 subjects (59 men and 51 women), whose mean age was 46.8 years at the time of their initial detection. Twenty-six of the subjects had lumbago, which was probably unrelated. Other abnormalities including narrowed intervertebral spaces, scoliosis, and spondylolysis were observed in 21 of the subjects. These could have been responsible for any symptoms they had had, but none of the subjects complained of local hip-joint pain when the radiographs in question were made.
Ninety-three of these instances of calcification were reviewed by means of serial radiographs. Interval changes in the sizes and shapes of the calcifications occurred among 90 of them, indicative of the latent type of peritendinitis calcarea. No interval changes were noted in the remaining three cases, indicating they were secondary ossification centers; namely, os acetabuli. This study showed that in asymptomatic adults, most para-acetabular calcifications were really not os acetabuli, but actually peritendinitis calcarea.
Peritendinitis calcarea and os acetabuli have long been confused during interpretations of hip-joint radiographs. Such confusion is reflected in the medical literature. The present study differentiated these two entities according to their interval radiographic progression and regression.
There were 137 instances of para-acetabular calcifications among 110 subjects (59 men and 51 women), whose mean age was 46.8 years at the time of their initial detection. Twenty-six of the subjects had lumbago, which was probably unrelated. Other abnormalities including narrowed intervertebral spaces, scoliosis, and spondylolysis were observed in 21 of the subjects. These could have been responsible for any symptoms they had had, but none of the subjects complained of local hip-joint pain when the radiographs in question were made.
Ninety-three of these instances of calcification were reviewed by means of serial radiographs. Interval changes in the sizes and shapes of the calcifications occurred among 90 of them, indicative of the latent type of peritendinitis calcarea. No interval changes were noted in the remaining three cases, indicating they were secondary ossification centers; namely, os acetabuli. This study showed that in asymptomatic adults, most para-acetabular calcifications were really not os acetabuli, but actually peritendinitis calcarea.