Overuse edema in the bone marrow of the hand: demonstration with MRI

In MRI of the skeleton, marrow edema is a frequent finding that can be caused by avascular necrosis, fracture, bone bruises, transient osteoporosis, osteomyelitis, primary tumors, metastases, and altered biomechanical properties. We examined a 29-year-old woman golfer with mild pain and swelling of the proximal phalanx II of the left hand. No signs of a stress fracture were seen on the MR images or plain radiographs. MRI revealed increased signal intensity on T2-weighted images in the metacarpal and proximal phalanx II in the left hand. We concluded that bone marrow edema may be the result of physiologic bone response to stress and may not necessarily correspond with severe trauma. Our case complements recent observations outlining the influence of altered biomechanics as a reason for marrow edema.