ASSESSMENT OF PAINFUL HIP JOINT AND HIP PATHOLOGY BY USING MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

Abstract

MR imaging is a critical tool in the evaluation of hip pathologies since it enables analysis of articular structures, extra-articular soft tissues, and the osseous structures that can be affected by hip disease. Hip imaging was one of the earliest reported applications of  Musculo-skeletal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. .

Aims- Assessment of painful hip joint and hip pathology by using Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Materials and methods- The study will be conducted in Department of Radio- diagnosis, peoples college of  medical sciences and research  centre, Bhopal from January 2023 to January 2024, after approval from institutional research & ethical committee. Patients with complaints of pain in hip joint referred from various Department for MRI hip will be subjected to MRI after taking written informed consent.

Results- In our study maximum number of patients were males (71.1%), male: female ratio is 2.4:1. Maximum patients were in age group 31-40 year (22%) followed by 21-30 year (18%). Most common pathology was found to be AVN (36%). AVN is more common in males (n= 15). Subchondral signal abnormality in AVN is most common finding (96.42%) followed by femoral head fragmentation with collapse (57.1%). Most common finding in Osteoarthritis is Marginal osteophytes, seen in all hip joints involved (100%).

Most common findings in Perthes disease is bone marrow edema seen in all patients. Most common findings in DDH are displaced epiphyses, dysplastic acetabulum, dysplastic femoral head seen in      all the patients. Most common findings in metastasis on MRI is hyperintensity signal on T2/STIR seen in all the patients. Most common findings in synovitis are synovial effusion and synovial thickening seen in all the patients. Bone marrow edema in femoral head and neck, Joint effusion, Absence of subchondral lesions and edema, altered signal in acetabulum were the most common findings in patients with transient osteoporosis of hip. Sensitivity of TB on MRI was found to be 40.4%.

Conclusion- In patients with hip discomfort, we found a wide range of MR results in patients of different ages. The various underlying conditions included AVN, septic arthritis, osteoarthritis, Perthes disease, DDH, transient synovitis, Transient osteoporosis of hip and metastasis. MRI is the method of choice in characterizing the various disorders of the hip joint and it can point out specific features leading to accurate diagnosis of the painful hip joint. It's a precise imaging technique for determining the complete degree of osseous, chondral, and soft tissue abnormalities in the hip joint. Joint effusions, synovial proliferation, articular cartilage abnormalities, subchondral bone, ligaments, muscles, and juxta-articular soft tissues can all be seen using MR  imaging. MRI is the diagnostic method of choice for hip problems because to its high resolution, enhanced tissue contrast differentiation, and multiplanar imaging capability.