European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background & Objectives: Hip pain has different etiologies in adults and children. MRI is the method of choice in characterizing the various disorders and assessing the full extent of osseous, chondral and soft tissue abnormality of the hip joint. This study was aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of MRI in assessment of painful hip joint. Methodology: This prospective study included 60 patients with painful hip joint. The following MR sequences were performed to all patients: Coronal T1, T2 & STIR WIs, axial T1&T2WIs, axial T1WI and sagittal T1WI after contrast injection. Patient's history, local examination of the diseased hip and laboratory investigations were performed. Results: The most common pathology for which MRI hip advised was avascular necrosis (AVN) (40%), followed by septic arthritis (20%). Male to female ratio was 2.3:1, their ages ranged from 10 months to 76 years with a mean age of 40 years. In this study most common presentation was pain in hip joint (97%) followed by restricted movement (92%). In the study most common MRI finding of AVN was bone marrow edema (78%) of the lesions followed by joint effusion 63% and Double line sign (58%). In present study, stage 4 with secondary osteoarthritis was the most common stage of AVN present in 43% of the lesions followed by stage 3 31%. The frequency of MRI findings in septic joints was synovial enhancement (91%), joint effusions (91%), erosive bone destruction (67%). In the study most common changes of osteoarthritis is joint space reduction noted in 38% of hips studied. Conclusion: MRI of the hip joint is an informative, diagnostic, and accurate for the assessment of hip pain and sufficient imaging modality for delineation of different hip joint pathology.