Acute calcific tendonitis of dorsal interosseous muscles of the hand: uncommon site of a frequent disease

Abstract

Acute calcific tendinopathy is one of the manifestations of hydroxyapatite crystal deposition disease. While it is more frequent in the shoulder, it has been described in virtually all areas of the body, but rarely in the muscles of the hand. Its etiopathogenesis is not yet fully understood and despite being a fairly frequent condition, it is commonly misdiagnosed. The onset of the disease is usually acute and resolves spontaneously. Acute calcific tendinitis of the interosseous tendons of the hand is an uncommon site of a frequent condition. The clinical presentation is similar to other entities, thus errors in diagnosis frequently occur, resulting in over-treatment or unnecessary tests. We describe a case of acute calcific tendinitis of the interosseous muscles of the hand with a brief review of the current literature with emphasis on diagnostic imaging methods.

Acute calcific periarthritis of the thumb: Correlated sonographic and radiographic findings

“…Cases are typically monofocal and self-limited, with tendons of the shoulder being the most commonly affected site, followed by soft tissues of the hip and the knee [2] , [4] . Periarticular calcifications of the hand and wrist have also been reported in both adult [2] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] and pediatric [10] cases, with flexor carpi ulnaris involvement near the pisiform bone being the more common site in these cases.…”

Enveloping calcification of flexor digitorum profundus tendon: a diagnosis easily missed

“…This condition in the hand is a recognised but rare pathology when compared with the incidence of shoulder cases. Only 2% of cases are assumed to occur in the hand and wrist 1…”

“…Sporadic case reports of calcification in the hand have been described in the literature 1–12. All these prior reports involve small, discrete, calcific masses in the flexor tendons.…”

Imaging of calcific tendinopathy in atypical sites by ultrasound and conventional radiography: A pictorial essay

“…Two cases of CT of the common extensor tendon have been described in literature (fig 4) [14] and one concerning the triceps brachii tendon, treated with percutaneous US-guided therapy (fig 5 -7) [15]. In hand and wrist, the prevalence is about 2% where the flexor carpi ulnaris tendon, extensor carpi ulnaris tendon and the flexors and extensors of the fingers are the most affected locations [16].…”