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MR arthrography of elbow: evaluation of the ulnar collateral ligament of elbow
K Nakanishi1, T Masatomi, T Ochi
1Department of Radiology, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injury of the elbow in throwing athletes by MRI and MR arthrography.
Design:
Ten elbows of throwing athletes were examined on both plain MRI and MR saline arthrography and the injuries subsequently surgically proven. Spin-echo (SE) T1-weighted and fast SE T2-weighted coronal images were obtained.
Results:
The UCL was unclear in all ten cases on T1-weighted MRI. In five cases an avulsion fracture was also found on T1-weighted MRI. On T2-weighted MRI, abnormal high-intensity areas were identified in or around the UCL. On T2-weighted MR arthrography images, extracapsular high-intensity areas, which represent extracapsular leakage, were found in four of five cases with avulsion fracture. At surgery, all these four cases showed avulsion fractures with instability; the other case had a fracture but it was stable and adherent to the humerus. On T2-weighted MR arthrography images, an extracapsular high-intensity area was found in one of the five cases without avulsion fracture. At surgery this patient had a complete tear of the UCL itself.
Conclusion:
MR arthrography provided additional information for evaluating the degree of UCL injury.