Posterolateral aspect of the knee: improved MR imaging with a coronal oblique technique.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if angling the coronal plane in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the knee increases the conspicuity of the posterolateral structures.


METHODS
A coronal oblique MR imaging sequence performed parallel to the popliteal tendon proximally was added to our routine study in patient knee examinations. One hundred patients (age range, 12-72 years) underwent MR imaging.


RESULTS
Coronal oblique images depicted the arcuate ligament in 46%, the fabellofibular ligament in 48%, and the fibular origin of the popliteal muscle in 53% of the patients, whereas standard coronal images depicted these in 10%, 34%, and 8% of the patients, respectively. Sagittal oblique images did not adequately depict these structures.


CONCLUSIONS
Depiction of the structures in the posterolateral aspect of the knee was optimal on coronal oblique images. We advocate obtaining coronal oblique T2-weighted images in patients with either posterolateral knee pain or suspected injury to the posterolateral ligamentous structures.
Department of Radiology, Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus 43210, USA.
J S
JS
Yu
D C
DC
Salonen
J
J
Hodler
P
P
Haghighi
D
D
Trudell
D
D
Resnick
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008023:Ligaments, Articular / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged