Bone marrow changes on STIR MR images of asymptomatic feet and ankles.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, pattern and size of bone marrow changes on short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) magnetic resonance (MR) images of asymptomatic feet and ankles. In 78 asymptomatic volunteers (41 women, 37 men; median age 47 years; range 23-83 years) sagittal STIR MR images of hindfoot and midfoot were reviewed for various patterns of high signal changes in bone marrow. The size of these bone marrow changes was measured, and signal intensity was rated semi-quantitatively using a scale from 0 (=normal) to 10 (=fluid-like). Fifty percent (39/78) of all volunteers had at least one bone marrow change. Thirty-six percent (28/78) of all volunteers had edema-like changes, 26% (20/78) had necrosis-like changes, and 5% (4/78) had cyst-like changes. The long diameters of all changes varied between 4 mm and 16 mm (median 7.5 mm). The median signal intensity for all changes was 5.0 (range 1-10). Bone marrow changes on STIR MR images are commonly detected in asymptomatic feet and ankles. However, such changes tend to be small (<1 cm) or subtle.
Zubler
Veronika
V
Department of Radiology, University Hospital, Balgrist, Forchstrasse 340, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland.
Mengiardi
Bernard
B
Pfirrmann
Christian W A
CW
Duc
Sylvain R
SR
Schmid
Marius R
MR
Hodler
Juerg
J
Zanetti
Marco
M
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000842:Ankle / Q000473:pathology*; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric