Radiographic and MRI findings in ochronosis.

Purpose: Ochronotic arthropathy is the articular manifestation of alkaptonuria, a rare hereditary metabolic disease that leads to the deposition of homogentisic acid particularly in the joints where it causes articular degeneration and inflammation. We studied the radiological patterns of the disorder using both traditional X-rays both MRI and comparing the results obtained with the two techniques.

Materials And Methods: The study included five patients (4 males, 1 female, mean age 51 years); we studied the most frequently affected sites, the knee, the shoulder and the spine.