Postoperative Return to Play and the Role of Imaging.

Return to play (RTP) following surgery is a complex subject at the interface of social and internal pressures experienced by the athlete, psychological readiness, and intrinsic healing of the surgically repaired structures. Although functional testing, time from surgery, clinical examination, and scoring metrics can help clarify an athlete's readiness to return to sport, imaging can allow for a more direct assessment of the structures in question. Because imaging is often included in the diagnostic work-up of pain following surgery, the radiologist must be familiar with the expected postsurgical imaging appearance, as well as the associated complications.

Spotty Bone Marrow: A Frequent MRI Finding in the Feet of Ballet Dancers.

Bone marrow signal abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are common in athletes. However, few studies evaluate the MRI appearance of bone marrow in the feet of ballet dancers. Our study aims to describe the "spotty bone marrow" (SBM) pattern in the tarsal bones of a cohort of ballet dancers, establishing its prevalence, distribution, potential associations, and evolution.

A MSK Radiologist's Early Experience as a Department Chair: Climbing the Horizontal Ladder.

A radiologist's training is designed to produce a professional with excellent interpretation skills. However, in today's health care environment, a successful radiologist may not be a successful leader or the opposite may be true. Leadership requires a different set of skills with knowledge of common concepts across all levels of health care delivery.

Diagnosis of non-osseous spinal metastatic disease: the role of PET/CT and PET/MRI.

The spine is the third most common site for distant metastasis in cancer patients with approximately 70% of patients with metastatic cancer having spinal involvement. Positron emission tomography (PET), combined with computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has been deeply integrated in modern clinical oncology as a pivotal component of the diagnostic work-up of patients with cancer. PET is able to diagnose several neoplastic processes before any detectable morphological changes can be identified by anatomic imaging modalities alone.

The Role of Imaging in Determining Return to Play.

Return-to-play (RTP) predictions focus on how long it takes an athlete to return to their full athletic activity after sustaining an injury. This article focuses on the role of imaging and the radiologist in RTP predictions for the most common and controversial injuries affecting athletes.

Magnetic resonance appearance of posterosuperior labral peel back during humeral abduction and external rotation.

Objective: To describe the magnetic resonance appearance of posterosuperior labral peel back and determine the reliability of MR in the abducted and externally rotated (ABER) position for the prospective diagnosis of arthroscopically proven cases of posterosuperior labral peel back.

Methods: After approval by the institutional review board (IRB) of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, USA, databases of patients who underwent arthroscopy over a 2-year period for one of three clinical diagnoses [suspected type 2 superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) tears, posterior instability, or multidirectional instability] were reviewed after anonymization by an honest broker. Sixty-three cases were selected by the following inclusion criteria: operative report documenting labral peel back in the ABER position, age <40 years, and preceding MR arthrogram evaluations with images in the ABER position (n=34).

Normal appearance and complications of double-bundle and selective-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions using optimal MRI techniques.

Objective: Double-bundle and selective-bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions are increasingly performed to better reproduce the double-bundle anatomy of the native ACL and to improve knee stability and surgical outcomes. This article illustrates how to optimize visualization of the ACL bundle anatomy and the appearances of graft components and postoperative complications.

Conclusion: It is important for the radiologist to be familiar with the appearance of double-bundle and selective-bundle ACL reconstructions and associated complications.