Purpose or Case Report: The purpose of this exhibit is to make radiologists and clinicians aware of the different disease entities, which involve avascular necrosis. Additionally, we will discuss the different locations in which avascular necrosis can occur and the different pathogenic mechanisms which contribute. Avascular necrosis has a wide variety of etiologies and can affect nearly every bone in the human body. Many sites of involvement are given eponyms associated with the corresponding area. These sites are to be discussed individually, as many have unique clinical and prognostic features. We aim to educate radiologists and clinicians regarding the imaging characteristics of avascular necrosis in the various diseases discussed.
Methods & Materials: Initially, a list of different etiologies of avascular necrosis was made. These were subsequently entered, into a search of all radiology reports at our institution from January 8, 2008 to January 1, 2016. This method yielded hundreds of different reports in which the searched terms were used. All applicable radiology reports were read and pertinent pathological cases were compiled for use in this exhibit.
Results: Our search yielded hundreds of radiology reports across X-ray, Ultrasound, CT, and MRI modalities. The topics for discussion and review of original images include, but are not limited to:
- Spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee (SONK)
- Freiberg infraction (avascular necrosis of the 2nd metatarsal head)
- Kienbock’s disease (avascular necrosis of the lunate)
- Liffert-Arkin disease (avascular necrosis of the distal tibia)
- Sever disease (avascular necrosis of the calcaneal epiphysis)
- Preiser disease (avascular necrosis of the scaphoid)
- Avascular necrosis of the hips
- Avascular necrosis of the humeral heads
- Avascular necrosis of the medial cuneiform
- Avascular necrosis of the trapezium
- Avascular necrosis of the talar dome
- Kohler disease (avascular necrosis of the navicular in children)
- Mueller-Weiss disease (avascular necrosis of the navicular in adults)
- Legg-Calve-Perthes disease (avascular necrosis of the femoral head)
- Panner disease (avascular necrosis of the capitellum of the humerus)
Conclusions: To conclude, we would like to make radiologists and clinicians aware of the different disease entities, which involve avascular necrosis. We aim to educate radiologists and clinicians regarding the imaging characteristics and pathogenic mechanisms of avascular necrosis, by utilizing the aforementioned pathological cases.