What is “golfer’s elbow,” and what are its causes? Golfer’s elbow is a common term for medial epicondylitis. It is a common source of pain at the medial elbow caused by stress from repetitive contraction of the flexors of the forearm. It is commonly seen in golfers, overhead throwing athletes, bowlers, and racket sport athletes …
What is “tennis elbow,” and what are its causes? Tennis elbow is a common term for lateral epicondylitis. It is a common source of pain at the lateral elbow and usually occurs with repetitive stress injury caused by repeated contraction of the extensor muscles of the forearm. The stress leads to microtearing, degeneration, immature repair, …
What is the MRI appearance of a tendon tear? A tear can be distinguished from chronic tendinopathy by the presence of fluid signal intensity (high T2-weighted and low T1-weighted signal intensity) within the tendon, disrupted tendon fibers, and/or focal thinning of the tendon.
What is the MRI appearance of tendinopathy? Normal tendons are low in signal intensity on all MR imaging sequences. With chronic degeneration, microscopic tearing, and repair, the tendons become thickened and increased in signal intensity, giving the appearance of tendinosis on MRI.
Imaging modalities for evaluation of the elbow What other imaging modalities are utilized for evaluation of the elbow? The initial imaging evaluation should always start with radiography of the elbow. Radiographs will often detect the pathology and provide information about the bones, joint spaces, and soft tissues that may help guide further evaluation if necessary. …
What are common indications for MRI of the elbow? • Bone and cartilage pathology: radiographically occult fractures including stress fractures, bone contusions, tumors, osteochondritis dissecans, and cartilage defects. • Ligament tears. • Muscle and tendon pathology: medial epicondylitis, lateral epicondylitis, distal biceps tears, triceps tears, and muscle strains/injury. • Joint space pathology: effusions, synovitis, and arthropathies. • Ulnar nerve pathology: …
What are common indications for MR arthrography of the elbow? An elbow MR arthrogram is performed by injecting dilute contrast material into the joint space before acquisition of MR images. The intraarticular contrast material is best used to evaluate for intraarticular bodies in the joint space, osteochondral lesions, and ligament tears.