Osteochondritis dissecans of the knee

Case contributed by Ahmed Abdrabou
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Knee pain and limitation of movement following volleyball game. The patient is athelete.

Patient Data

Age: 20 years
Gender: Female

A bony defect is seen at the lateral aspect of the medial femoral condyle with underlying bone marrow edema of the medial femoral condyle exhibiting bright STIR signal. A small bony fragment is seen anterior to the ACL.

Diagnosis: Osteochondritis dissecans of the knee (unstable type)

Annotated image

Bone defect at lateral aspect of medial femoral condyle.

A bone fragment anterior to the ACL.

Case Discussion

The lesion is stable when the bony fragment is still in place but when the fragment is detached and displaced from the mother bone secondary osteoarthritis may develop and hence unstable lesion requires surgical intervention.

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