Aims and objectives
The purpose of this study was to review the anatomy of the normal knee and discuss the nature and MR imaging appearance of both the intrinsic abnormalities that involve the infrapatellar fat pad of Hoffa.
Methods and materials
Retrospective study carried out in the radiology department of the Errazi hospital in Marrakech concerning 37 cases of Hoffa fat pathologies collected over a period from September 2014 to December 2017.
Were excluded extrinsic abnomalities and traumas.
All our patients underwent MRI of T1-weighted spin-echo (SE),
T2-weighted SE and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences.
The sequences were performed in sagittal,
coronal and axial planes
Results
The average age of our patients is 35,
between 23 and 65 years.
a sex ratio of 5 with male predominance.
Patients presented mainly for :
Antero-external knee pain (60%)
Knee-discomfort (52%).
The symptomatology was bilateral in 19% of cases.
´MRI showed :
•Patello femoral friction syndrome in 30 cases
•Patellofemoral chondropathy (10 cases).
•Mucoid cyst of Hoffa fat (2 cases).
•Hoffa disease (1 case).
•Osteochondromatosis (1 case).
•Villonodular synovitis (2cases).
•Angioma (1 case).
Conclusion
Several knee abnormalities demonstrated with MR imaging are frequently centered within the infrapatellar fat pad of Hoffa.
These include Hoffa disease,
intracapsular chondroma,
localized nodular synovitis,
postarthroscopy and postsurgery fibrosis,
and shear injury.
Both Hoffa disease and intracapsular chondrorna usually exhibit heterogeneous but predominantly high signal intensity throughout the infrapatellar fat pad at T2-weighted MR imaging,
although more these intracapsular chondroma is usually more localized.
The concurrent appearance of these two abnormalities supports the hypothesus that intracapsular chondroma represents end-stage Hoffa disease.
On MR imaging,...
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