This document provides details on MRI imaging of the knee and ankle, including:
- Muscles and ligaments relevant to the knee and ankle
- Imaging modalities used including MRI sequences and technical considerations
- Anatomy and normal appearances of structures like the menisci, ACL, PCL, MCL, LCL
- Descriptions and diagrams of MRI slices in the sagittal, coronal, and axial planes
- Checklist for evaluating ankle MRI focusing on bones, joints, ligaments, and tendons
13. MRI- technical consideration
• Pt positioning: Supine with leg in full extension
(10-15 ext rotn)
• Surface coil: Dedicated knee coil is mandatory as it
improves the signal to noise ratio
• Small FOV of 14-16 cm
• Slice thickness 3-4 mm
• At least 256x192 matrix
14. • Sagittal: along long axis of lat femoral condyle (to
obtain good view of ACL)
• Menisci & cruciate ligament– sagittal; coronal for
confirmation of pathology.
• PD most sensitive in detection of meniscal tears
• MCL & LCL- coronal images.
• Marrow & bone contusions, MR arthrography- STIR &
fat saturated FSE.
• T1 – Bone marrow pathology and subtle # (not
obscured by edema as in T2)
16. MRI appearance
• Uniformly low T1 & T2 SI
(avascular portion)
• Peripheral 3mm excellent
vascularity.
• Bow tie appearance in sag.
17. Menisci
• Fibrocartilage disc
• 2 “C” shaped
• Thick peripherally & thin
centrally
• Divided into:
• Ant horn
• Body
• Post horn
• Divided as:
• Red zone: peripheral 1/3rd ,
vascularised & innervated
• White zone: inner 2/3rd,
strictly fibrocartilage
18.
19. Medial meniscus
• Both horns are triangular in shape and have very
sharp points.
• The posterior horn is always larger than the anterior
horn
• The posterior root is immediately anterior to the
posterior cruciate ligament.
• If it is missing on the sagittal images, then there
is a meniscal root tear
20.
21. Lateral meniscus
• On sagittal images the posterior horn is higher in
position than the anterior horn.
• Both horns are about the same size.
23. • Coronal T1WI -lateral position of
the ACL in the intercondylar notch
(arrow), surrounded by high-signal
fat.
• Axial fat-saturated neutral-weighted
fast spin-echo (FSE) MRI shows the
normal, linear hypointense ACL
adjacent to the lateral bony wall of the
upper intercondylar notch (arrow)
Axial fat-saturated fast spin-echo
(FSE) MRI shows the normal, linear
hypointense ACL adjacent to the
lateral bony wall of the upper
intercondylar notch (arrow)
24. PCL - Anatomy
• Medial femoral condyle (lat
aspect)
• Posterior surface of the
intercondylar region of tibia
25. MCL- Anatomy
3 functional units
Superficial to deep
Superficial layer 1
Consists deep crural fascia.
Anteriorly fuses with layer
2 to form medial patellar
retinaculum.
• Intermediate layer 2
Superficial layer of MCL
• Deep layer 3
Consist joint capsule and
deep layer of MCL
27. Normal MRI appearance- best on coronal image- uniformly low
signal intensity.
• Coronal proton density
image demonstrating
the lateral collateral
ligament in its entirety,
from the femoral
condyle origin to the
fibular head insertion.
77. Biceps femoristendon
Biceps femoris
Popliteal artery
Lateral head of
gastrocnemius muscle
Head of fibula
Semimembranosus
muscle
Gracilis
tendon
Semimembranosus
tendon
Medial head of
gastrocnemius
muscle
Semitendinosus
tendon
102. • We use a checklist when evaluating an MRI of the Ankle:
• Bones: screen on fatsat images for bone marrow edema.
• Joints: screen for effusion and look at the joint capsule for thickening.
• Ligaments: check the syndesmosis, the lateral and medial ligaments.
• Tendons: check the tendons using the four quadrant approach;
• Flexors on the medial side.
• Achilles tendon posteriorly.
• Peroneal tendons on the lateral side.
• Extensors on the anterior side.
• When you have evaluated all these structures, combine your findings and
try to make a specific diagnosis.
Semitendinous : ischial spine, inserted in pes. Anesernius
Semimembrnous: ischial tuberosity, inserted in medial ascpect of tibia
Popliteus-lateral femoral condyle
Proximal surface o tibia
Peripheral 3rd particularly of posterior horn of medial meniscus – neurovascular and fatty tissue- low to medium in T1 and medium to high in T2
The lateral meniscus posteriorly comes up high
over the tibial spine to insert near the posterior
cruciate ligament.
This upward position of the posterior horn may be the reason for the higher signal intensity of the posterior horn in all planes due to magic angle effect.
anteromedial and posterolateral bundles: anteromedial bundle tightens with flexion of the knee, thus resists anterior translation of the tibia in flexion. The posterolateral bundle tightens with knee extension & resists hyperextension
Best- sagittal oblique - slices parallel to cortex of lateral femoral condyle.
Solid low signal band or 3 or 4 separate low signal bundles.
Criteria for the normal ACL are:
1. Fiber-orientation as steep or steeper than the intercondylar roof.(Blumensaat’s line)
2. Fibers all the way from the tibia to the femur.
Not as strong as the PCL.
Is less strong at its femoral origin than at its tibial insertion
PD fat sat
Sagittal-best
Band like with low signal intensity
Arcuate shape on sag:
Horizontal take off at femoral origin
Abrupt descent at 45 degree to tibia.
Better seen in coronal
The superficial medial collateral ligament (MCL)
extends from the medial epicondyle to insert not
just near the joint but 7 cm below the joint
space.
At that point there are three landmarks: the
inferomedial geniculate artery and paired veins
(figure).
The deep part of the MCL, even when it is
normal, you may not be able to see.
It is closely applied to the medial meniscus and
the superficial MCL.
Posterolateral corner contains seven or eight
structures.
Only three of them are important to us because
they are visible on MR and because the surgeon
might want to fix them.
These structures are:
1. Fibular collateral ligament
2. Biceps femoris muscle and tendon.
3. Popliteal tendon
The fibular collateral ligament together with the
tendon of the biceps femoris form the letter V on
sagittal images.
They inserts on the fibula head as the conjoined
tendon.
5-7 cm long
Lateral epicondyle of the femur to the fibular head
Forms conjoined tendon with biceps femoris
Anatomy in the axial plane
The tendons can be divided into four compartments:
Medial: (from medial to lateral: Tom-Dick-Harry)
Tibialis Posterior (PTT)
Flexor Digitorum
Flexor Hallucis Longus
Posterior
Achilles
Plantaris
Lateral
Peroneus Longus
Peroneus Brevis
Anterior (from medial to lateral: Tom-Hates-Dick)
Tibialis Anterior
Extensor Hallucis Longus
Extensor Digitorum
Tibiofibular syndesmotic complex
Lateral collateral ligament
Anterior talofibular
Posterior talofibular
Calcaneofibular
Seen at the level of the malleolar fossa (Indentation on the medial surface of the fibula)
ant. Tibiotalar
Tibio navicular
Tibio spring
Tibio calcaneal
Post. Tibiotalar
Springs