Meniscus Tear Presented as Bone Marrow Edema Manifested in Hybrid Images in Skeletal Scintigraphy: A Case Report

Lindsay Smith

Case Report

Meniscus Tear Presented as Bone Marrow Edema Manifested in Hybrid Images in Skeletal Scintigraphy: A Case Report

Chun Lin Su^1,2, You Lin Tsai³, Yuan Yang Cheng^3,4,5 and Shin Tsu Chang^3,6,7

¹Department of Education, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan

²School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan

³Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

⁴School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan

⁵Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan

⁶Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taiwan

⁷School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taiwan

Corresponding Author

Received Date: January 08, 2021; Published Date: January 25, 2021

Abstract

Chronic knee pain is a common degenerative disorder amongst the elderly, and differential diagnosis through imaging remains crucial. Bone marrow edema represents an increase of water content in the normally fatty bone marrow. The size of the bone marrow edema is associated with the development of knee pain in Osteoarthritis (OA). Bone marrow edema cannot be seen on plain radiography, and while a SPECT/CT scan is more sensitive than MRI in detection of bone marrow edema, the definite diagnosis of bone marrow edema is dependent upon MRI. SPECT/CT is the combination of 3D scintigraphy and computed tomography, which provides more specific anatomical localization and improved sensitivity. It is a valuable tool for the early evaluation of knee pain, as the increase of bone tracer uptake can be seen in bone marrow edema (BME), cartilage lesions, meniscus tear or derangement and valgus/varus alignment. Hence acquiring information from both MRI and SPECT/CT can help determine the optimal treatment. We present a case of chronic knee pain as evaluated by MRI and SPECT/CT.

Keywords: Bone marrow edema; SPECT/CT; Meniscus tear; Knee; MRI; Chronic knee pain

Article Details

Citation

Chun Lin Su, You Lin Tsai, Yuan Yang Cheng, Shin Tsu Chang. Meniscus Tear Manifested as Bone Marrow Edema as Observed from Hybrid Images in Nuclear Medicine (Skeletal Scintigraphy): A Case Report. Arch Rheum & Arthritis Res. 1(3): 2021. ARAR.MS.ID.000513.