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Background: Osteochondral defects represent a main risk factor for osteoarthritis of the ankle., Objectives: The aim of this article is to provide an overview of current optimal clinical cartilage imaging techniques of the foot and ankle and to show typical osteochondral injuries on imaging., Materials and Methods: A thorough literature search was performed and was supported by personal experience., Results: Cartilage imaging of the foot and ankle remains challenging. However, advanced morphological and quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques may provide useful clinical information, for example, concerning cartilage repair surgery. Compared to MRI, MR arthrography (MR-A) and CT arthrography (CT-A) have higher sensitivity with respect to detection of osteochondral defects. Regarding smaller joints of the foot, mainly advanced osteoarthritic changes are detected on conventional radiography; only in rare cases, MR and CT imaging of these smaller joints is of relevance., Conclusions: While at the smaller joints of the foot cartilage imaging only plays a minor role, at the ankle joint cross-sectional cartilage imaging using CT and MRI becomes more and more important for clinicians due to emerging therapeutic options, such as different osteochondral repair techniques.

Sports injuries of the foot can occur as sequelae of acute trauma or chronic overuse. Besides clinical examination, imaging plays a major role in the detection of structural abnormalities and the differential diagnostics. This article reviews the most important sports-related soft tissue and bone pathologies of the forefoot and midfoot together with their typical findings on radiography, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Overhead sport places great demands on the shoulder joint. Shoulder pain in overhead athletes and throwers can in the majority of cases be attributed to lesions resulting from chronic overuse of tendons and capsuloligamentous structures or to sequels of microinstability and secondary impingement. Due to its great impact on therapeutic decisions, imaging in athletes with unclear shoulder pain is a challenge. In this connection, magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography represents the cross-sectional imaging modality of first choice, as it allows depiction and exclusion of pathologic alterations of all relevant joint structures with sufficient confidence.This article reviews the biomechanical and clinical aspects and MR arthrographic features of the most common shoulder pathologies in overhead athletes, including biceps tendinopathy, superior labral anterior-posterior (SLAP) lesions, rotator cuff lesions, as well as extrinsic and intrinsic impingement syndromes.

The case of a female Patient with increasing pain and a palpable mass in the right popliteal fossa shows the spectrum of possible differential diagnoses for the radiologist. The diagnosis of a juxtaarticular myxoma made on the interpretation of conventional x-ray and magnetic resonance imaging was finally confirmed by biopsy.

Since its introduction into clinical use, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become well established in the diagnosis of injuries of the knee joint and has replaced diagnostic arthroscopy as the primary evaluation method. Traumatic lesions of the ligaments, menisci, and articular surfaces are common injuries that can be confidently detected using MRI. This article reviews the basic principles of the examination technique of the knee, the normal MRI anatomy of the internal joint structures, and the typical findings in injuries of the cruciate ligaments, collateral ligaments, and mensci, in traumatic dislocation of the patella, and in acute osteochondral lesions.

Correct interpretation of imaging findings in the postoperative shoulder is impaired by surgical distortion of normal anatomy and possible artifacts. Advanced postoperative imaging of the shoulder in addition to the selection of the best suited modality necessitates familiarity with the surgical procedure that has been performed and its consecutive morphological changes. This article reviews the most common arthroscopic and open techniques used for treatment of shoulder instability, lesions of the superior labral-bicipital complex, primary impingement, and rotator cuff tears, their typical postoperative imaging findings, as well as the diagnostic performance of cross sectional imaging techniques in the detection of recurrent lesions and complications.

Benign bone-forming tumors include osteomas, enostomas, osteoid osteomas, and osteoblastomas. These lesions are often characterized by typical imaging findings on radiographs, CT and MR imaging studies. Radiologic findings and additional clinical information allow for a specific diagnosis in most cases. This review article emphasizes the radiological patterns of benign bone-forming tumors as well as their epidemiological, clinical, and pathological characteristics. In addition, minimally invasive interventional procedures for the therapy of osteoid osteoma are reviewed.

Purpose: To investigate whether phase-contrast MRA is a clinically suited approach to examine arteries of the pelvis and lower extremities., Methods: The study was divided into two parts, a volunteer study and patient study. Three MRA techniques-2D TOF with venous saturation, 3D magnitude contrast and 2D phase contrast with ECG triggering-were intraindividually compared in 15 volunteers and evaluated by three blinded readers. Subsequently, a total of 230 vessel segments of 45 MRA studies using ECG-triggered phase contrast were compared with intraarterial DSA. All vessel segments were scored by three blinded readers using a five-point scale with DSA serving as the gold standard., Results: ECG-triggered phase contrast provided better image quality than the other MRA techniques as assessed by the Friedman test. Clinical studies demonstrated a significant correlation of DSA and MRA as assessed by the Spearman correlation and kappa statistics for individual readers., Conclusion: MRA of the pelvis and lower extremities may be performed with 2D ECG-triggered phase-contrast MRA within a reasonable time frame (< 30 min). MRA slabs provide orientation similar to that with DSA projections and good to very good correlation of vessel pathology as shown by kappa statistics.

The standard osteosynthetic implants suggested by the AO (Association for Osteosynthesis Problems) are surveyed: lag screws, tension band wires, plates, nails, external fixators, as are other bone-fixation aids with regard to function, implementation and important aspects concerning radiological evaluation.