ABSTRACT
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is very sensitive for the detection of marrow abnormalities.
Bone marrow edema on MRI has been defined as an area of low signal intensity on T1-weighted
images, associated with intermediate or high signal intensity findings on T2-weighted
images. The bone marrow edema pattern is a nonspecific finding with multiple etiologies.
The knee is a common place for bone marrow signal abnormalities to appear on MRI.
Besides contusions and fractures from acute trauma, there are a variety of other causes
of the bone marrow edema pattern. It is important for the interpreter of the study
to be aware of the different etiologies responsible for producing these changes and
to be able to narrow the differential diagnosis without mistaking such a pattern for
acute trauma or infiltrative tumor. This article concentrates on those entities that
produce a bone marrow edema pattern not related to acute trauma including red marrow
proliferation, stress, osteochondral lesions, osteonecrosis, bone marrow edema syndrome,
arthropathy, infection, Paget's disease, and marrow replacement disorders.
KEYWORDS
Knee - trauma - osteonecrosis - bone marrow edema - infection - tumor - MR imaging/diagnosis
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Lynne S SteinbachM.D.
Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California at San Francisco
505 Parnassus Ave., Ste. M392, San Francisco, CA 94143-0628
Email: lynne.steinbach@ucsf.edu
