scholarly journals The Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Traumatic Knee Injury

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-61
Author(s):  
Madan Thapa ◽  
Subash Thapa ◽  
Pramod Kumar Chhetri

Introduction: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as a non-invasive modality plays a vital role in assessment of a wide spectrum of internal knee derangements. This study focuses on the commonest anatomical derangement and reveals the importance of MRI to characterize the pattern of derangement in the assessment of the patient with knee injury. Methods: This is the hospital based prospective study conducted among 65 patients referred to department of radiology with first presentation of knee injury during two years period from August, 2013 to August, 2015. Patient fulfilling the inclusion criteria underwent Magnetic Resonance Imaging knee in SIEMENS MAGNETOM C 0.35 Tesla MRI machine, after taking written informed consent. Descriptive analysis of data was analyzed using SPSS 20.0 program Result: Of the total 65 patients with knee injury, Sport injuries were the most common mode of knee injury. 63 cases with trauma had findings on MRI. Most of the cases presented with joint effusion (59 cases). Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear is the commonest injury (37 cases) during knee trauma followed by Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL), Medial Meniscus, Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL), Lateral Meniscus and Lateral Collateral Ligament(LCL) injuries. Conclusion: MRI as a high-contrast soft-tissue imaging technique can be used as a noninvasive modality to assess a wide spectrum of internal knee derangements in a patient with knee injury. Specific pattern of bone bruise can guide us to narrow our diagnosis.

2021 ◽  
pp. 194173812110295
Author(s):  
Patrick Ward ◽  
Peter Chang ◽  
Logan Radtke ◽  
Robert H. Brophy

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears are common injuries; they are often associated with concomitant injuries to other structures in the knee, including bone bruises. While there is limited evidence that bone bruises are associated with slightly worse clinical outcomes, the implications of bone bruises for the articular cartilage and the risk of developing osteoarthritis (OA) in the knee are less clear. Recent studies suggest that the bone bruise pattern may be helpful in predicting the presence of meniscal ramp lesions. Evidence Acquisition: A literature review was performed in EMBASE using the keyword search phrase (acl OR (anterior AND cruciate AND ligament)) AND ((bone AND bruise) OR (bone AND contusion) OR (bone AND marrow AND edema) OR (bone AND marrow AND lesion) OR (subchondral AND edema)). Study Design: Clinical review. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Results: The literature search returned 93 articles of which 25 were ultimately included in this review. Most studies identified a high prevalence of bone bruises in the setting of acute ACL injury. Individual studies have found relationships between bone bruise volume and functional outcomes; however, these results were not supported by systematic review. Similarly, the literature has contradictory findings on the relationship between bone bruises and the progression of OA after ACL reconstruction. Investigations into concomitant injury found anterolateral ligament and meniscal ramp lesions to be associated with bone bruise presence on magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusion: Despite the ample literature identifying the prevalence of bone bruises in association with ACL injury, there is little evidence to correlate bone bruises to functional outcomes or progression of OA. Bone bruises may best be used as a marker for concomitant injury such as medial meniscal ramp lesions that are not always well visualized on magnetic resonance imaging. Further research is required to establish the longitudinal effects of bone bruises on ACL tear recovery. Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy: 2.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nashil Singh ◽  
Heleen Hanekom ◽  
Farhana E. Suleman

Background: Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has internationally been proven to reduce unnecessary knee arthroscopies and assist with surgical planning. This has the advantage of avoiding unnecessary surgery and the associated anaesthetic risk, as well as reducing costs. No data were found in the recently published literature assessing the accuracy of MRI interpretation of knee ligament injury in the public sector locally.Objectives: This pilot study aimed to determine the accuracy of MRI in detecting non-osseous knee injury in a resource-limited tertiary-level academic hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, compared to the gold standard arthroscopy findings.Method: This was an exploratory retrospective analysis of 39 patients who had MRI and arthroscopy at Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH). True positive, true negative, false positive and false negative results were extrapolated from findings in both modalities and translated into sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for each structure.Results: Negative predictive values were recorded as 97%, 81%, 90% and 100% (anterior cruciate ligament [ACL], medial meniscus [MM], lateral meniscus [LM] and posterior cruciate ligament [PCL], respectively), which were comparative to recently published international literature. The PPV results were lower than those previously evaluated at 55%, 58%, 55% and not applicable. The sensitivities and specificities of the ligaments were 83%, 58%, 83% and not applicable; and 87%, 81%, 70% and not applicable, respectively.Conclusion: Magnetic resonance imaging was found to be sensitive and specific, with a high NPV noted in all structures evaluated. Negative results can therefore be used to avoid unnecessary surgery to the benefit of the patient and state. The study reiterates that high accuracy can be obtained from MRI on a 1.5-tesla non-dedicated scanner, with interpretation by generalist radiologists.


1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren L. Johnson ◽  
William P. Urban ◽  
David N. M. Caborn ◽  
William J. Vanarthos ◽  
Cathy S. Carlson

Occult osteochondral lesions (bone bruises) have been documented on magnetic resonance images in more than 80% of patients sustaining acute anterior cruciate ligament ruptures. Despite the high prevalence of these lesions, little is known about the histologic changes in the adjacent articular cartilage. Ten patients with acute anterior cruciate ligament ruptures who had a preoperatively documented (by magnetic resonance imaging) geographic bone bruise at the sulcus terminalis on the lateral femoral condyle underwent a 3-mm diameter trephine biopsy of the articular cartilage and subchondral bone overlying the bone bruise at the time of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Biopsy samples of the articular cartilage and subchondral bone were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and toluidine blue. All patients had significant arthroscopic and histologic articular cartilage irregularity in the area overlying the bone bruise. Arthroscopic findings of the articular cartilage included softening (dimpling), fissuring, or overt chondral fracture. Histologic examination revealed degeneration of the chondrocytes and loss of toluidine blue staining in the articular cartilage (loss of proteoglycan). There was necrosis of osteocytes in the subchondral bone, and empty lacuna were visible. This study defines the exact histologic changes of the articular cartilage overlying a geographic bone bruise secondary to an acute anterior cruciate ligament tear. Our findings suggest that a geographic bone bruise found on magnetic resonance imaging indicates substantial damage to normal articular cartilage homeostasis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 2233-2237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas N. DePhillipo ◽  
Mark E. Cinque ◽  
Jorge Chahla ◽  
Andrew G. Geeslin ◽  
Lars Engebretsen ◽  
...  

Background: Meniscal ramp lesions have been reported to be present in 9% to 17% of patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Detection at the time of arthroscopy can be accomplished based on clinical suspicion and careful evaluation. Preoperative assessment via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been reported to have a low sensitivity in identifying meniscal ramp lesions. Purpose: To investigate the incidence of meniscal ramp lesions in patients with ACL tears and the sensitivity of preoperative MRI for the detection of ramp lesions. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: All patients who underwent ACL reconstruction by a single surgeon between 2010 and 2016 were included in this study, and patients with medial meniscal ramp lesions found at the time of arthroscopy were identified. The sensitivity of MRI compared with the gold standard of arthroscopic evaluation was determined by review of the preoperative MRI musculoskeletal radiologist report, mimicking the clinical scenario. The incidence was calculated based on arthroscopic findings, and the potential secondary signs of meniscal ramp tears were evaluated on MRI. Results: In a consecutive series of 301 ACL reconstructions, 50 patients (33 male, 17 female) with a mean age of 29.6 years (range, 14-61 years) were diagnosed with a medial meniscal ramp lesion at arthroscopic evaluation (16.6% incidence). The sensitivity of MRI for ramp lesions was 48% based on the preoperative MRI report. A secondary finding of a posteromedial tibial bone bruise was identified on preoperative MRI in 36 of the 50 patients with ramp lesions in a retrospective MRI review by 2 orthopaedic surgeons. Conclusion: Medial meniscal ramp lesions were present in approximately 17% of 301 patients undergoing ACL reconstruction, and less than one-half were diagnosed on the preoperative MRI. A posteromedial tibial bone bruise was found to be a secondary sign of a ramp lesion in 72% of patients. Increased awareness of this potentially combined injury pattern is necessary, and careful intraoperative evaluation is required to identify all meniscal ramp tears.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 606
Author(s):  
Seong Hwan Kim ◽  
Han-Jun Lee ◽  
Ye-Hoon Jang ◽  
Kwang-Jin Chun ◽  
Yong-Beom Park

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been widely used for the diagnosis of meniscal tears, but its diagnostic accuracy, depending on the type and location, has not been well investigated. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of MRI by comparing MRI and arthroscopic findings. Preoperative 3.0-T MRI and arthroscopic findings from 2005 to 2018 were reviewed to determine the presence, type, and location of meniscus tears. In addition, subgroup analysis was performed according to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) Inflammatory arthritis, (2) other ligament injuries, (3) inability to classify meniscal tears due to degenerative arthritis, (4) over 90 days from MRI to surgery, and (5) incomplete data. Of the 2998 eligible patients, 544 were finally included. The sensitivity and specificity of MRI in determining medial and lateral meniscus tears were 91.8% and 79.9%, and 80.8% and 85.4%, respectively. The accuracy of MRI in the ACL-injured group was lower than that in the ACL-intact group (medial meniscus: 81.7% vs. 88.1%, p = 0.041; 72.9% vs. lateral meniscus: 88.0%, p < 0.001). MRI accuracy was low for the longitudinal tears of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus in the ACL-injured group. MRI could be a diagnostic tool for meniscus tears, but has limited accuracy in their classification of the type and location. Hence, care should be taken during arthroscopic assessment of ACL-injured patients due to low diagnostic accuracy of preoperative MRI.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-56
Author(s):  
Patel Ishani ◽  
Chandru Vijay ◽  
Nekkanti Supreeth ◽  
Renukarya Ravishankar ◽  
Reddy Vishnu Vardhan ◽  
...  

Background The aim of this study is to compare and correlate the clinical, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and arthroscopy findings in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscal injuries of the knee. Methods This was a prospective study of 30 cases of ACL and meniscal injuries of the knee admitted between September 2014 and May 2016, who underwent clinical examination, MRI, and arthroscopy of the knee. Results In our study of 30 cases, there were 26 male and four female patients with age ranging from 18 years to 60 years, with most patients in between 21 years and 30 years. Clinical examination had sensitivity of 90.91%, specificity of 100%, and accuracy of 93.33% for ACL, sensitivity of 83.33%, specificity of 77.78%, and accuracy of 80% for medial meniscus, and sensitivity of 75%, specificity of 77.27%, and accuracy of 76.67% for lateral meniscus. MRI had sensitivity of 95.45%, specificity of 87.5%, and accuracy of 93.33% for ACL, sensitivity of 91.67%, specificity of 55.56%, and accuracy of 70% for medial meniscus, and sensitivity of 62.5%, specificity of 72.73%, and accuracy of 70% for lateral meniscus. Conclusion In conclusion, the present study supports that clinical diagnosis is of primary necessity, as the positive predictive value is high for all the lesions. MRI is an additional diagnosing tool for ligament and meniscal injuries of the knee. Routine use of MRI to confirm the diagnosis is not indicated, as the positive predictive value is low, but can be used to exclude pathology, as the negative predictive value is high for all the lesions.


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