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This study aimed to provide an ultrasonographic description of the anatomical development of the foal foot from 7 months pre- to 7 months postpartum. The right forelimbs of 20 foals (age range, 7-month fetus to 7-month foal) without orthopedic disease and which died for reasons unrelated to this study were examined by an experienced ultrasound operator, and reference images were obtained for every age. A 4-step protocol was used to assess images of the complete foal foot, and these were compared with macroscopic dissection, performed using a standardized protocol. It was concluded that ultrasound images correlated well with macroscopic dissection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traumatic dislocation of the extensor tendon over the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint is a rare problem in patients without rheumatoid disorders. The common extensor tendon is stabilized on the metacarpal head by components of the dorsal hood (DH). A tear in the sagittal bands, allows (sub)luxation of the tendon. To ensure appropriate treatment, the identification of the damaged structures is essential. Ultrasound (US) is a valuable method in the evaluation of DH injuries and in the follow-up for evaluation of healing or lack of healing of the lesions. We report three cases with partial rupture of the sagittal band of the DH: two cases in the index finger and one case in the long finger, which caused pain and swelling and was diagnosed with US. The patients were treated conservatively and the pain resolved after 9 months in case 1, 3 months in case 2 and 6 months in case 3. The follow-up at one year revealed painless full range of motion and no residual subluxation during the dynamic ultrasound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine the normal thickness and MRI appearance of the Tibialis Posterior Tendon near the navicular insertion in normal volunteers.Materials and Methods: By using a 3T MRI system 41 ankles were imaged, and PD weighted images with fat saturation were acquired in the three orthogonal planes. Symptoms of tendon pathology and history of trauma or surgery of the tendon were used as volunteer exclusion criteria. Two different measurement points were determined to evaluate hyperintensity and thickness. Two radiologists assessed the internal signal of the Tibialis Posterior Tendon independently by using axial and coronal images. Tendon hyperintensity was classified from homogenously dark to different degrees of hyperintense signal, where 0 means no internal hyperintensity, 1 - minimal hyperintensity, 2 - moderate and 3 - marked. Correlations between the two observers were obtained by Cohen's kappa. Descriptive statistics were also obtained.Results: Eight men and 13 women (total 21) volunteers, age range 19-43(average 24.7)years were included in the study. At measurement point-1 on the coronal images, observer-1 and observer-2 evaluated hyperintensity (mostly minimal) respectively in 90.5% and 95.3% of tendons with a Cohen's kappa coefficient of 0.701 (moderate agreement) for the right foot and in 60% and 70% of tendons with a Cohen's kappa coefficient of 0.624 (moderate agreement) for the left foot. On axial images both observers assessed hyperintensity (mostly marked) in 100% of the tendons with a coefficient of 0.763 (moderate agreement) for the right foot, and in 95% of tendons with a coefficient of 0.839 (strong agreement) for the left foot. At measurement point-2 on coronal images, both observers rated any degree of hyperintensity in 33.3% of tendons with a coefficient of 1.00 (perfect agreement) for the right foot, in 38.9% of tendons with a coefficient of 0.766 (moderate agreement) for the left foot. On axial images both observers evaluated hyperintensity (mostly minimal) in 100% of tendons with a kappa coefficient of 0.702 (moderate agreement) for the right foot, in 95% of tendons with a coefficient of 0.790 (moderate- to strong agreement) for the left foot.Conclusion: The Tibialis Posterior Tendon, near the navicular insertion (navicular tendon and tarsometatarsal tendon), exhibits an apparent thickening and most importantly hyperintensity which should be regarded as a normal finding, and not lead to an erroneous diagnosis of tendinopathy. This observation was almost always the case for the navicular insertion and less so for the tarsometatarsal tendon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]