الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The use of MRI in the evaluation of knee trauma and instability has become a mainstay of clinical practice in great part because of its high accuracy in the identification of meniscal and ligamentous abnormalities. The increasing recognition of the importance of the diagnosis of posterolateral corner injuries and the subsequent repair of such injuries has driven those of us involved in imaging to attempt to detect these injuries preoperatively with MRI.
The initial assessment of injury to the lateral collateral ligament and posterolateral corner is often challenging, particularly in the context of a multi-ligamentous injury.
Injuries of the lateral compartment of the knee are less common than the medial compartment. However injuries of the lateral compartment may be more disabling because these structures are subjected to greater force during gait.
Recognition of this injury by the radiologist is crucial because physical examination findings in this entity are usually subtle unless accompanied by damage to the remaining stabilizing structures of the knee. The patient may experience only mild swelling and tenderness after the injury and frequently remains physically active.
The purpose of the work is to study the role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in evaluating the posterolateral corner injuries of the knee.
Our study included 15 patients with history of trauma to the knee undergoing conventional X-ray/CT (for only two patients), MRI using 1.5T magnet using the following sequence: Axial, Coronal, sagittal proton density fat sat, T1, T2 and T2 gradient.
11(73.00%) patients showed multiple injured structures of the posterolateral corner at the same incident while four (27%)patients had only one injured structure of the PLC structures at a time. 10 (67.00%) patients had lateral collateral ligament injury, eight (53.33%) patients had popliteus complex injuries, six (40.00%) patients had injury of their conjoined tendon, five (33%)patients showed ill definition of the arcuate ligament suggesting its tear, also five (33%)patients showed injury of the popliteofibular ligament and similar number (percentage) showed biceps femoris tendon injury
We concluded that although the complex anatomy and variability of PLC structures constitutes a challenge for the diagnosis of such injuries, MR imaging was found to be an indispensable tool in assessing PLC injuries and its associated abnormalities. Among the different PLC structures, the most common structures injured are the fibular collateral ligament, biceps femoris tendon, conjoined tendon and popliteus musclotendinous complex.