Bone spurs

Abstract: Twenty-eight children whose diastematomyelia had been diagnosed at Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin, were reviewed with respect to presenting symptoms, treatment, and outcome. Two children suffered significant neurologic damage during prophylactic removal of their bone spurs. Three children underwent spinal correction under traction with their bony spurs in situ without suffering any neurologic sequelae. The morbidity and mortality of surgical removal of bone spurs was considered and the traditional approach to this condition questioned.

Abstract: Plantar heel pain, a chronic and disabling foot alignment, occurs in the adult population. Extracorporal shock wave therapy (ESWT) offers a nonsurgical option in addition to stretching exercises, heel cups, NSAI, and corticosteroid injections. This study aimed to investigate the effects of ESWT on calcaneal bone spurs and the correlation between clinical outcomes and radiologic changes. The study involved 108 patients with heel pain and radiologically diagnosed heel spurs. All patients underwent ESWT once a week for 5 weeks at the clinic. Each patient received 2,000 impulses of shock waves, starting with 0.05 mJ/mm2 (1.8 bar) and increasing to 0.4 mJ/mm2 (4.0 bar). Standard radiographies of the affected heels were obtained before and after the therapy. Clinical results demonstrated excellent (no pain) in 66.7% of the cases, good (50% of pain reduced) in 15.7% of the cases, and unsatisfactory (no reduction in pain) in 17.6%. After five ESWT treatments, no patients who received shock wave applications had significant spur reductions, but 19 patients (17.6%) had a decrease in the angle of the spur, 23 patients (21.3%) had a decrease in the dimensions of the spur, and one patient had a broken spur. Therefore, results showed no correlation between clinical outcome and radiologic changes. The present study supports the finding that even with no radiologic change after ESWT therapy, the therapy produces significant effects in reducing patients’ complaints about heel spurs.

Abstract: Objective To investigate the different patterns of bone spur formation in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and hand osteoarthritis (OA), using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (QCT). Methods The study group comprised 70 subjects (25 patients with PsA, 25 patients with hand OA, and 20 healthy controls). The 2 patient groups were similar with regard to age and sex distribution and clinical involvement of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints. All patients underwent high-resolution peripheral QCT scanning of the second, third, and fourth MCP joints of the dominantly affected hand. Demographic and disease-specific data were recorded, and the number, size, and distribution of bone spurs were assessed and compared between patients with PsA and patients with hand OA. Results The overall number and size of bone spurs were similar in patients with PsA and patients with hand OA. However, localization of lesions within individual joints was substantially different between patients with PsA and those with hand OA. In PsA, bone spurs dominated the radial sides of the joints (for the metacarpal head of the second joint, P < 0.001 versus hand OA; for the base of the second phalangeal joint, P < 0.001 versus hand OA), whereas the palmar and dorsal quadrants were the predilection sites in hand OA. Detailed anatomic analysis showed that bone spurs in the entheseal regions were prominent in patients with PsA but rare in patients with hand OA, and that bone spurs in patients with hand OA typically emerged at the cartilage–bone interphase and the joint margins. Conclusion Our findings show that the overall number and size of bone spurs are similar in patients with PsA and patients with hand OA. Nonetheless, the anatomic sites of bone proliferation are different between these 2 groups of patients.

Abstract: Two very dissimilar cases of hypophosphatemia in the adult patient are described by the authors. The first case was symptomatic since childhood, with typical clinical and radiologic findings (fissures, diaphyseal bone spurs, bony deformities), whereas the second case was minimally symptomatic (loss of teeth and back pain). Articular chondrocalcinosis was observed in both cases, as was a decrease in alkaline phosphatase and the increased urinary excretion of phosphoethanolamine. Histological examination demonstrated an increase in osteoid. Review of the literature revealed 40 cases of this inborn error of metabolism seen in adulthood, enabling a detailed description of the characteristics of this polymorphic condition.