Deep learning MR reconstruction in knees and ankles in children and young adults. Is it ready for clinical use?

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance and image quality of accelerated Turbo Spin Echo sequences using deep-learning (DL) reconstructions compared to conventional sequences in knee and ankle MRIs of children and young adults.

Materials And Methods: IRB-approved prospective study consisting of 49 MRIs from 48 subjects (10 males, mean age 16.4 years, range 7-29 years), with each MRI consisting of both conventional and DL sequences.

Case 326: Intra-Articular Osteoid Osteoma.

A 15-year-old male patient presented with a 3-week history of inner left thigh pain provoked by activity and experienced occasionally at rest. The patient denied nighttime pain, fever, or chills. Laboratory investigation revealed the following normal values: hemoglobin level of 15.

Intra-articular Osteoid Osteomas: Imaging Manifestations and Mimics.

Osteoid osteoma (OO) is the third most prevalent benign bone neoplasm in children. Although it predominantly affects the diaphysis of long bones, OO can assume an intra-articular location in the epiphysis or the intracapsular portions of bones. The most common location of intra-articular OO is the hip joint.

Measuring synovial thickness on knee MRI in pediatric patients with arthritis: is contrast necessary?

Background: The use of contrast-enhanced imaging has long been standard for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessments of synovitis in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). However, advancements in MRI technology have allowed for reliable identification of synovium without contrast.

Objective: To assess the equivalence of unenhanced MRI with contrast-enhanced MRI in evaluating synovial thickness.

Stressed or fractured: MRI differentiating indicators of physeal injury.

Objective: To identify MRI findings that can indicate chronic physeal stress injury and differentiate it from acute Salter-Harris (SH) fracture of the pediatric knee or wrist.

Methods: IRB-approved retrospective study of consecutively selected knee and wrist MRIs from 32 athletes with chronic physeal stress injury and 30 children with acute SH fracture. MRI characteristics (physeal patency, physeal thickening, physeal signal intensity (SI), continuity of the zone of provisional calcification (ZPC), integrity of the periosteum and/or perichondrium, pattern of periphyseal and soft tissue edema signal, and joint effusion) were compared.

Morphometric and clinical comparison of MRI-based synthetic CT to conventional CT of the hip in children.

Background: MRI-based synthetic CT (sCT) generates CT-like images from MRI data.

Objective: To evaluate equivalence, inter- and intraobserver reliability, and image quality of sCT compared to conventional (cCT) for assessing hip morphology and maturity in pediatric patients.

Materials And Methods: We prospectively enrolled patients <21 years old with cCT and 3T MRI of the hips/pelvis.

Case 326.

A 15-year-old boy presented with a 3-week history of inner left thigh pain provoked by activity and experienced occasionally at rest. He denied nighttime pain, fever, or chills. Laboratory investigation revealed the following normal values: hemoglobin level of 15.

Synthetic CT Assessment of Lesions in Children With Rare Musculoskeletal Diseases.

Imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT) are critical for monitoring musculoskeletal abnormalities in children with rare diseases. However, CT exposes patients to radiation, which limits its utility in the clinical setting, particularly during longitudinal evaluation. Synthetic CT is a novel, noncontrast, and rapid MRI method that can provide CT-like images without any radiation exposure and is easily performed in conjunction with traditional MRI, which detects soft-tissue and bone marrow abnormalities.