Preliminary Diagnosis: Osteomyelitis I. What imaging technique is first-line for this diagnosis? Plain film radiography II. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this technique for diagnosis of osteomyelitis. Advantages Quick Can reliably exclude common causes of musculoskeletal pain, such as fracture, arthropathy, or neoplasm Can strongly suggest osteomyelitis given the appropriate clinical history, laboratory findings,…
Preliminary Diagnosis: PAGET'S DISEASE I. What imaging technique is first-line for this diagnosis? Plain film radiography II. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this technique for diagnosis of Paget's disease. Advantages Diagnostic with positive pertinent findings in the proper clinical scenario Can accurately identify complications: osteoarthritis, protrusio acetabuli, proximal femoral varus Provides superior resolution of…
Preliminary Diagnosis: Dermatomyositis/Polymyositis I. What imaging technique is first-line for this diagnosis? MRI without gadolinium. T2 weighted or STIR sequences are the most sensitive of the MRI sequences. II. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this technique for diagnosing dermatomyositis/polymyositis. Advantages May be diagnostic in the correct clinical scenario. Can detect the fatty muscular atrophy,…
Preliminary Diagnosis: Septic Arthritis I. What imaging technique is first-line for this diagnosis? Plain radiograph. As clinically suspected septic arthritis is a clinical emergency, image-guided joint aspiration is advocated as the first-line imaging technique. II. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this technique for diagnosing septic arthritis. Advantages Quickly and accurately detects moderate to large…
Preliminary Diagnosis: Myositis I. What imaging technique is first-line for this diagnosis? MRI without gadolinium II. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this technique for diagnosis of myositis. Advantages May be diagnostic in the correct clinical scenario Can detect the sequela of long-standing disease: fatty muscular replacement, muscular atrophy, and fascial thickening Can detect the…
