الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Anterior knee pain (AKP) is one of the most frequent reasons for consultation in the context of knee conditions in adolescent and young adult patients, accounting for up to 74% of knee pain experienced by adolescents participating in sports The standing anteroposterior, a true lateral, and axial radiographs should be obtained for all patients with anterior knee pain. These radiographs are the first step for imaging. In cases refractory to conservative treatment, CT and MRI should be considered Knee magnetic resonance imaging is a valuable imaging technique for the identification and differentiation of causes of anterior knee pain. Making a diagnosis might be a challenge due to a wide set of causes and nonspecific symptoms, therefore the knowledge of characteristic radiological features of major etiological factors is of fundamental importance. The aim of this study is to highlight the role of MRI in evaluation of anterior knee pain. 30 patients with anterior knee pain were included in this study with their age ranged from 12 to 75 years with a mean of 44.33±15.31 SD. They were referred to department of diagnostic radiology at Tanta University hospital for knee MRI. Our results revealed that among the 30 patients included in this study, 19 patients were males representing (63.3%) and 11 patients were females representing 36.7% of included patients. Most of the included patients (73.3%) had no history of previous knee trauma whereas positive history of traumatic event was found in 26.7% of patients which was common among males of younger age group. The commonest etiology of anterior knee pain was patello-femoral osteoarthritis as it was found in 23.3% of the studied patients with male predominance at fifth decade of life. Chondromalacia patella was the second common cause of anterior knee pain in the present study, as it was found in 4 cases most of them were males at their fifth decade. At proton density with fat suppression all images displaying hyperintense signal. In T1-weighted images, 80% of the lesions where only conspicuous eliciting hypointense signal. In T2-weighted images only 23.3% of them displaying hyperintense signal. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that MRI is the first modality of choice in the diagnosis of different knee pathologies that cause anterior knee pain and different anatomic variants, ligamentous injuries and chondral lesions that predispose to instability in different age groups as it is safe and accurate. Also, it has a high specification for detecting the grades and the types of some of these diseases or factors that may predispose to anterior knee pain.