Magnetic resonance imaging of the wrist

Abstract

Optimal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the wrist requires a high field strength magnet and a dedicated wrist coil to achieve high-resolution images. Using current MR sequences, detailed images of articular cartilage and the supporting ligaments and tendons can be obtained. Evaluation of the triangular fibrocartilage as well as the extrinsic and intrinsic ligaments of the wrist is possible with thin-slice three-dimensional volumetric gradient recalled sequences. Fast inversion recovery sequences, used to achieve fat suppression in peripheral joints such as the wrist, allow for detection of acute osseous trauma, which is often radiographically occult. Cartilage-sensitive imaging allows for evaluation of conditions in the skeletally immature patient, such as chronic physeal loading in the adolescent gymnast, as well as detection of the sequelae of altered biomechanics in the adult, as in the ulnolunate impaction syndrome. Moreover, contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography permits a relatively noninvasive evaluation of peripheral vascular disease, obviating the need for an intraarticular injection.