“Bone marrow edema” in the differential diagnosis of traumatic injuries of the knee

Abstract

Bone marrow edema is MR images is defined by the presence of hypointense infiltration on T1-weighted images and clear high signal intensity on fat-saturated T2-weighted sequences (T2 FSE FAT SATURATED, T2-weighted short-tau inversion recovery (T2w-STIR)).Aim: To demonstrate the features of manifestation of “bone marrow edema” at different severity and character of traumatic injury of the knee.Materials and Methods. A series of clinical cases with subchondral bone involvement in the form of “bone marrow edema” resulting from trauma is presented using the example of the knee joint as the most common area of MRI for differential diagnosis.Results. The features of “marrow edema” of the femoral and tibial condyles were analyzed using clinical examples. It was shown that the severity and nature of injury can be judged by the nature of the edema, presence of linear hypointensities, articular surface deforms and the bone defects.Conclusion. Evaluation of “bone marrow edema” revealed on MRI examination in case of pain syndrome after a knee joint injury allows timely clarification of the diagnosis and adequate treatment.