Enthesopathy: clinical recognition and significance.

Enthesopathyisa common clinicalfindingdenoting pathologyat the 'entheses', i.e. attachment sites of muscles, tendons, joint capsules, ligaments and fascia to the bone. Inflammatory enthesopathy or enthesitis is a sine qua non of seronegative spondyloarthropathies (SSA). It can also be occupational, metabolic, drug induced, infective or degenerative. Bursitis closelymimicsenthesitis.Ultrasoundwith high frequencytransducers is a simple, cost-effective and feasible test to detect enthesopathy which is amenable to treatment with localsteroid injections, physiotherapy and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, in addition to treatment of the primarydisease.Unrecognized and untreated, it can lead to considerable morbidity. Natl Med J India 2001; 14:90-2