Signs suggestive of osteochondral lesions on knee MRI scans
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53903/01212095.401Keywords:
Magnetic resonance imaging, Knee, Cartilage, articular, OsteochondritisAbstract
Introduction: The term osteochondral injury or defect is an abnormality of articular cartilage and subchondral bone, which can be caused by a variety of acute and chronic entities. These lesions are manifested in magnetic resonance imaging from discrete changes in signal intensity of the articular cartilage, to loss of morphology associated with bone edema. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to determine the frequency and quantitatively characterize (by edema volume and chondral defect area) osteochondral lesions in symptomatic patients evaluated with knee magnetic resonance imaging. Secondary objectives were to describe the most frequent location of these lesions and to evaluate the statistical association with concomitant pathologies such as meniscal and anterior cruciate ligament lesions. Methodology: Epidemiological and radiological characteristics were retrospectively collected in patients who underwent knee MRI scans at the Radiology Service of a private clinic in Caracas in 2022, identifying suggestive signs of osteochondral lesions in 477 studies. The volume of subchondral bone edema was classified by dividing patients into 3 groups: mild (0-3000 mm3), moderate (between 3001 mm3 and 10000 mm3), and severe (greater than 10000 mm3). Results and Conclusions: Out of a total of 477 knee studies, 229 (48 %) demonstrated the presence of subchondral edema. The age group with the highest frequency of subchondral edema ranged from 41 to 60 years. The patella was found to be the most common site of mild subchondral edema; however, moderate and severe edema was most frequently located in the medial condyle (20.7 %) and the medial tibial plateau (19 %). Cartilage involvement was present in 82.5 % of positive studies. Early diagnosis of osteochondral lesions can help the treating physician slow their progression or even reverse bone edema before the lesion progresses to a severe cartilage defect.
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