Role of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of the anterior knee pain

Abstract

Abstract Background To review the most common causes of Anterior knee pain (AKP), with an emphasis on their MRI findings; 70 patients were included (24 males and 46 females). Their age range is 10–53 years with a mean ± SD of 28.8 ± 9.06 years. All patients performed MRI of the affected knee. Results Eleven disease entities were encompassed in this study; the patellar causes were dominating, where the chondromalacia patella being found in 43% of cases (n = 30), patellar instability was found in 19% (n = 13), transient patellar dislocation was found in 7% (n = 5), patellar tendinopathy was found in 4% (n = 3), and bipartite patella was found in 1% (n = 1). Hoffa’s disease was found in 14% (n = 10); the anterior meniscal tear was found in 13% (n = 9). Quadriceps tendinopathy was found in 3% (n = 2), and quadriceps tear was found in 4% (n = 3). Cartilage disease was found in 6% (n = 4); Osgood–Schlatter disease was found in 4% (n = 3); the coexistence of more than an entity was found in 13 cases (18.5%). Conclusions MRI provided a safe and accurate modality in the diagnosis of different causes of AKP with a high specification in detecting the grades and the types of some diseases.

Keywords

• Anterior
• Knee pain
• MRI