Ankle impingement syndrome is a painful condition resulting from friction of joint tissues that is both cause and effect of an altered joint biomechanics. The leading causes of such condition are post-traumatic lesions, particularly the ligamentous ones, resulting in chronic ankle pain. From an anatomic and clinical point of view, these syndromes may be classified as anterolateral, anterior, anteromedial, posteromedial, and posterior. Magnetic resonance imaging is an excellent diagnostic method for demonstrating bone and soft tissue abnormalities resulting from different types of ankle impingement, providing useful data to confirm the diagnosis as well as to rule out other possible causes of joint pain. The present essay is aimed at illustrating the main magnetic resonance imaging findings in ankle impingement syndrome.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging, Syndrome, Impingement, Ankle

OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in the differentiation between malignant and benign musculoskeletal tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-five patients with musculoskeletal tumors (27 malignant and 28 benign) were studied. The examinations were performed in a 1.5 T magnetic resonance scanner with standard protocol, and single voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy with 135 msec echo time. The dynamic contrast study was performed using T1-weighted gradient-echo sequence after intravenous gadolinium injection. Timesignal intensity curves and slope values were calculated. The statistical analysis was performed with the Levene's test, followed by a Student's t-test, besides the Pearson's chi-squared and Fischer's exact tests. RESULTS: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were, respectively, 87.5%, 92.3% and 90.9% (p < 0.0001). Statistically significant difference was observed in the slope (%/min) between benign (mean, 27.5%/min) and malignant (mean, 110.9%/min) lesions (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The time-intensity curve and slope values using dynamic-enhanced perfusion magnetic resonance imaging in association with the presence of choline peak demonstrated by single voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy study are useful in the differentiation between malignant and benign musculoskeletal tumors.

Keywords: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Perfusion magnetic resonance imaging, Magnetic resonance imaging

We evaluated 43 magnetic resonance scans of the leg or thigh of patients suffering from sports trauma. Strains were the most frequent lesions observed. These lesions presented iso- or hypointense signal on T1 and hyperintense signal on T2 images, and were classified according to the intensity of the injury of the fibers into grades 1, 2 and 3. The second most common lesions in these series were contusions that appeared iso- or hypointense on T1 and hyperintense on T2 images. Fibrosis was also observed as low signal lesions on T1 and T2 images.

Keywords: Muscle injuries, Athletes, Magnetic resonance imaging

The authors review the imaging methods for the study of the hip, emphasazing the magnetic resonance imaging, and show the efficacy of this method in the diagnosis of the main osteoarticular and musculotendinous diseases.

Keywords: Ultrasound, Computed tomography, Magnetic resonance imaging, Hip, Hip joint, Pelvis