Abstract | PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical outcome of edema-like bone marrow abnormalities seen on magnetic resonance (MR) images of the foot when their cause is unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The clinical outcome of 31 patients (15 female patients, 16 male patients; mean age, 51; range, 10-79 years) with edema-like bone marrow abnormalities on MR images of the foot was determined. The relevance of three different edema patterns was compared: (a) exclusively ill-defined edema-like zones, (b) edema-like zones plus well-defined necrosis-like zones, and (c) edema-like zones plus linear structures indicating possible fractures. The different edema patterns were compared with persistence of pain. RESULTS: Fifty-four percent of all patients had pain persisting after 1 year, as calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method. The duration of pain in the various subgroups varied significantly (P =.049, log-rank test). The subgroup of patients with a well-defined necrosis-like zone had substantially longer-lasting pain than those with edema-like abnormalities only (n = 16) (P =.065). Only one of seven patients with a well-defined necrosis-like zone (n = 7) was pain free after 1 year. Conversely, patients with possible stress fracture (n = 8) had shorter pain compared with those with edema-like abnormalities only (P =.036); six of eight patients were pain free after 1 year. CONCLUSION:
Edema-like bone marrow abnormalities of the foot predict long-lasting pain. Analysis of the image patterns of such abnormalities allows prediction of the clinical outcome to a certain degree.
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Authors | Marco Zanetti, Christian Luzius Steiner, Burkhardt Seifert, Juerg Hodler |
Journal | Radiology
(Radiology)
Vol. 222
Issue 1
Pg. 184-8
(Jan 2002)
ISSN: 0033-8419 [Print] United States |
PMID | 11756724
(Publication Type: Journal Article)
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Topics |
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Aged
- Bone Marrow
(pathology)
- Bone Marrow Diseases
(complications, diagnosis, pathology)
- Child
- Edema
(etiology, pathology)
- Female
- Foot
(pathology)
- Fractures, Stress
(complications, diagnosis)
- Humans
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Necrosis
- Pain
(etiology)
- Proportional Hazards Models
- Statistics, Nonparametric
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