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Annals of Clinical & Laboratory Science 33:326-328 (2003)
© 2003 Association of Clinical Scientists

Case Report

Acute Spontaneous Achilles Tendon Rupture in a Patient with Giant Cell Arteritis

T. Jared Bunch1, Gail A. Welsh1, Dylan V. Miller2 and V. Santhi Swaroop1
1 Department of Internal Medicine and 2 Division of Anatomic Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

Address correspondence to V. Santhi Swaroop, M.D., Dept. of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St., SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; tel 507 284 1551; fax 507 284 5370; e-mail vege.santhi{at}mayo.edu.

Abstract

We report a case of a 69-yr-old previously healthy man with acute spontaneous Achilles tendon rupture and severe tendonitis, which occurred after 2 weeks of steroid therapy for newly diagnosed giant cell arteritis. The Achilles tendon rupture was treated conservatively and the tendonitis resolved incrementally with steroid dose reduction. The patient made a complete recovery. In view of the widespread use of steroids in practice, this novel case presentation has important clinical implications. The tendon rupture early in the course of high-dose steroid therapy expands the understanding of this adverse reaction, which was previously reported only with long-term steroid therapy. The severe tendonitis responded to steroid therapy reduction suggesting a dose correlation. This report adds to a sole previous report of a spontaneous Achilles tendon rupture associated with giant cell arteritis.

Keywords: temporal arteritis, Achilles tendon, ruptured tendon, tendonitis, prednisone




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