FSE-Cube has similar diagnostic performance as a routine MR imaging protocol for detecting cartilage lesions, cruciate ligament tears, collateral ligament tears, meniscal tears, and bone marrow edema lesions within the knee joint at 3.0 T.

PURPOSE To describe the results of a single-arm multicenter clinical trial using image-guided percutaneous cryoablation for the palliation of painful metastatic tumors involving bone. METHOD/MATERIALS Over a 44-month period, 61 adult patients with one or two painful bone metastases with ≥4/10 worst pain in a 24-hour period who had failed or refused conventional treatment were treated with percutaneous image-guided cryoablation. Patient pain and quality of life was measured using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) prior to treatment, 1 and 4 days after the procedure, weekly for 4 weeks and every 2 weeks thereafter for a total of 6 months. Patient analgesic use was also recorded at these same follow-up intervals. Complications were monitored. Analysis of the primary endpoint was undertaken via paired comparison procedures. RESULTS A total of 69 treated tumors ranged in size from 1–11 cm. Prior to cryoablation, the mean score for worst pain in a 24 h period was 7.1/10 with a range of 4-10/10. One, 4, 8, and 24 weeks after treatment, the mean score for worst pain in a 24 hour period decreased to 5.1/10 (p < 0.0001), 4.0/10 (p < 0.0001), 3.6/10 (p < 0.0001), and 1.4/10 (p < 0.0001), respectively. One of 61 (2%) patients had a major complication with osteomyelitis at the site of ablation. CONCLUSION Percutaneous cryoablation is a safe, effective and durable method for palliation of pain due to metastatic disease involving bone.

Patients with trochanteric pain syndrome always have peritrochanteric T2 abnormalities and are significantly more likely to have abductor tendinopathy on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, although the absence of peritrochanteric T2 MR abnormalities makes trochanteric pain syndrome unlikely, detection of these abnormalities on MRI is a poor predictor of trochanteric pain syndrome as these findings are present in a high percentage of patients without trochanteric pain.

A 3.0-T MR protocol has improved diagnostic performance for evaluating the articular cartilage of the knee joint in symptomatic patients when compared with a 1.5-T protocol.

Thorough understanding of basic injection principles, knowledge of the underlying anatomy, and consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of the imaging approaches should facilitate selection of the most appropriate technique for any clinical scenario.