Incidental meniscal findings on knee MRI in al-Najaf City

الملخص EN

Background Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the knee is often performed in patient s who have knee symptoms of unclear cause .When meniscal tears are found, it is commonly assumed that the symptoms are related to these.

However there is a paucity of data regarding the prevalence of meniscal damage in general population and the association of meniscus tears with the knee symptoms. Object to evaluate the prevalence of meniscal tear on MRI scans in the knees of asymptomatic patients. Patients and Methods We performed MRI examinations on 80 asymptomatic patients (38 females and42 males), who were 35 -60 years and ambulatory .We assessed the integrity of the menisci in the right knee joint . Results The prevalence of meniscal tears in the Rt.

knee joints as detected on MRI was 28.8 % .Damage to the medial meniscus was more common than to the lateral meniscus 69.5 %.

The prevalence of meniscal damage increased with increasing age in both sexes. Conclusions On MRI examination of the knee joint , many people without knee pain has meniscal signal changes.

Clinical correlation is essential to determine the importance of these signal abnormalities on magnetic resonance images especially in subjects older than 50 years ,a significant number of meniscal tears must be expected.

This shows the potential danger of the use of MRI alone as a basis for the determination of surgical intervention.