[Bone marrow edema in MRT]

Like other vascularized organs, bone can react with increasing interstitial fluid to disturbances in permeability caused by various noxae. Signs of bone marrow edema recognizable in magnetic resonance imaging are described for conditions such as trauma, stress, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, ischemia, and infection. A bone marrow edema may be an early or the only sign of a disease entity visible solely on MR images. We made a retrospective study of musculoskeletal MR examinations conducted over a period of 3 months to estimate the incidence of bone marrow edema.