MR imaging of the knee. Part II. Chronic disorders.

Abstract

Sixty patients with symptoms of chronic disease of the knee joint were evaluated with high-resolution, thin-section magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. MR imaging depicted a wide variety of knee joint abnormalities including osteochondritis dissecans, medullary infarcts, epiphyseal osteonecrosis, intraarticular osteochondral fragments, synovial cysts, joint effusions, intraarticular soft-tissue tumors, synovial disease, leukemic infiltration of bone marrow, Osgood-Schlatter disease, and nonossifying fibroma. In two cases MR imaging depicted bone infarcts not seen on both radionuclide bone scans and standard radiographs. The highly detailed depiction of the articular cartilage was of particular importance in predicting arthroscopic findings in cases of osteochondritis dissecans. In two cases, a soft-tissue mass (pigmented villonodular synovitis) and a large osteochondral fragment undetected at arthroscopy were accurately localized with MR imaging. The results indicate that MR imaging is capable of providing information that might otherwise require multiple, sometimes invasive diagnostic procedures.

Popliteal cysts: a reassessment using magnetic resonance imaging

“…All of the images were reviewed by one radiologist (P.D.F.) according to accepted criteria for identification of popliteal cysts [3,8]. These included the presence of a well-circumscribed mass within the popliteal fossa with a demonstrated connection to the joint space and low to moderate signal intensity on proton density weighted images.…”

“…Popliteal cysts are generally asymptomatic and require no treatment. They must, however, be distinguished from similar lesions that may require intervention including aneurysm, deep vein thrombosis, hematoma, lipoma, abscess, and tumor [3][4][5][10][11][12]. Associated knee pathology should also be identified especially when surgery is planned.…”

Lesion of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament and Sagittal Disalignment of the Knee in Weight-Bearing

“…Therefore in order to confirm the osteoarthrotic nature of the joint space reduc-tion we used MRI, which has proved valuable in the assessment of the cartilage and the subchondral bone of the knee joint (1,9,20,23).…”

Radiography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging at 0.5 Tesla of mechanically inducedosteoarthritis in rabbit knees

“…With MRI it was possible to differentiate immobilized and non-immobilized contralateral knees, as done by XR and CT. Osteochondral lesions were also the most common alterations observed by MRI. Joint effusion was observed on T2-weighted SE, a sequence that permitted a better differentiation of the surrounding musculature (7,12).…”

“…It provides excellent contrast resolution and permits differentiation of soft tissue structures that cannot be seen precisely by conventional radiography (4). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a sensitive imaging modality for the internal anatomy of the knee joint without the need for any type of contrast agent or joint manipulation (7).…”