Knee pain: Ultrasound and MRI correlation

Abstract Background Knee pain incidence is increasing among the community which has different multiple pathologies. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is considered the gold standard imaging modality in diagnosing knee soft tissue injury. Ultrasound (US) is another modality which can be used in diagnosing soft tissue injury. Aim of the Work is to detect the reliability of US in diagnosing cases with knee pain as compared to MRI. Patients and Methods A prospective study was conducted on 20 patients with knee pain. They were referred from the Orthopedic and/or Rheumatology Department to Radiology department at Ain Shams University hospitals for MRI and US examination of the knee.The age group were from 19 to 59 years. Results In this study, 20 patients were examined with majority being males (75%). US was tested against MRI for different soft tissue pathologies.including knee effusion, meniscal pathology (tear, degeneration and extrusion), medial collateral ligament sprain, lateral collateral ligament sprain and Baker’s cyst. There was good agreement between US and MRI in most of these pathologies. US showed an overall sensitivity of 61.7% and specificity of 92.7% with accuracy of 86.9%. The overall PPV and NPV were 66.1% and 91.3% respectively. Conclusion Ultrasound can be considered a reliable screening imaging modality in cases of knee pain.