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MRI findings of chronic distal tendon biceps reconstruction and associated post-operative findings

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Abstract

Rupture of the distal biceps tendon is becoming increasingly diagnosed due to an active aging population and an increase in diagnostic imaging opportunities. While physical exam may help in diagnosis, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is particularly useful in evaluating chronic rupture. Although partial tears can be managed conservatively, the gold standard treatment for a chronic distal biceps tear is anatomic reinsertion with additional use of an allograft or autograft. No study has highlighted the normal appearance and postsurgical complications seen on MRI associated with allograft or autograft usage. Clinicians and radiologists may be unaware of the normal and abnormal post-operative imaging findings and their clinical relevance. The purpose of this manuscript is to discuss the epidemiology, clinical presentation, and preoperative MRI findings of distal biceps ruptures necessitating reconstruction, to explain distal biceps tendon surgical reconstruction technique with allograft or autograft usage, to display the normal and abnormal post-operative MRI findings, and to review the clinical outcomes associated with the procedure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami Sports Medicine Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Coral Gables, FL, USA

    Dylan N. Greif, Samuel H. Huntley, Julianne Muñoz & Jean Jose

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, FL, USA

    Dylan N. Greif, Samuel H. Huntley, Julianne Muñoz & Jean Jose

  3. University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA

    Sameer Alidina

  4. East Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Joseph H. Huntley

  5. Department of Radiology and Imaging, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA

    Harry G. Greditzer IV

  6. Department of Radiology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, FL, USA

    Jean Jose

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Greif, D.N., Huntley, S.H., Alidina, S. et al. MRI findings of chronic distal tendon biceps reconstruction and associated post-operative findings. Skeletal Radiol 50, 1095–1109 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-020-03676-6

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