Table 1.

Recommendations to avoid common mistakes in assessment of MRI of the knee.

Consider age and clinical findings and ask for any previous history before interpreting the images. Make use of standardized questionnaires to indicate the location of the pain, duration of the complaints, history of trauma, aggravating activities, underlying diseases, previous surgery, etc. Look at previous imaging studies and other imaging modalities (such as plain films) Be aware of normal variants and developmental anatomy Scrutinize the menisci for common pitfalls Analyze all images systematically for all structures and all pulse sequences (T1-WI and T2-WI; sagittal, axial and coronal images). Bone marrow edema is a nonspecific finding with a variable etiology that may be of traumatic, degenerative or tumoral origin. Always look for other abnormalities (e.g. pigmented villonodular synovitis, gout, other crystal deposition diseases, bone marrow abnormalities) than common intra-and peri-articular pathology (e.g. menisci, anterior cruciate ligament, cartilage)