MRI findings of osteochondritis dissecans of the humeral capitellum correlated with surgical findings

Objective: To discuss the MRI findings of osteochondritis dissecans of the capitellum of humerus and to correlate the imaging findings with surgical findings in terms of the stability.Methods:The MRI and surgical data were analyzed retrospectively in sixteen patients,from which month 2002 to which month 2010.,Ten of them were confirmed by operation.Results:All the lesions in the ten patients were located on the anterolateral aspect of the capitellum.Six patients had stable osteochondritis dissecans lesion and four had unstable osteochondritis dissecans lesion.There were linear high signal intensity or cystic high signal intensity in both bone plate and primitive bone on T2-weighted MR imaging in unstable osteochondritis dissecans lesion,while there were no high signal intensity in stable osteochondritis dissecans lesion.Conclusion:There was a good correlation between MRI findings of osteochondritis dissecans of the capitellum and the surgical findings.It could be divided into stable osteochondritis dissecans lesion and unstable osteochondritis dissecans lesion according to T2-weighted MRI which is significant for clinical therapy.