Incidental tumor and tumor-like lesions around the knee

Encountering an incidental tumor or tumor-like lesion during a routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the knee is not uncommon. By far, the majority of these lesions are benign and many of them have characteristic appearances on MRI to allow a confident diagnosis. The most common, and some less common, but important incidental lesions will be discussed including bone lesions (bone cysts, subchondral fractures, enchondromas, non-ossifying fibromas, "tug" lesions, osteochondromas, bone infarcts, and prominent red marrow) and soft tissue lesions (synovial hemangiomas, intracapsular chondromas, bursae, synovitis, soft-tissue cysts, hematomas, heterotopic ossification, vascular lesions and normal variants). Gaining familiarity with the MRI appearance of these incidentally encountered lesions will be helpful in avoiding unnecessary additional tests and/or imaging.