MRI of Pediatric Foot and Ankle Conditions

Abstract

The increase in competitive sports practice among children and lack of ionizing radiation have resulted in a higher demand for MRI examinations. MRI of the children skeleton has some particularities that can lead orthopedists, pediatricians, and radiologists to diagnostic errors. The foot and ankle have several bones with abundant radiolucent and high signal intensity cartilage in several ossification centers, apophysis and physis, that can make this interpretation even harder. The present revision aims to show, how to differentiate between normal developmental findings and anatomic variants from pathologic conditions, whether mechanical, inflammatory, infectious, or neoplastic.

Keywords: Ankle; Foot; MRI; Pediatric.