MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING OF LABRAL CYSTS OF THE HIP

Objective. To present the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings in patients with labral cysts adjacent to the acetabulum and to examine t heir association with hip pathology. Design. MR images and conventiona l radiographs of seven patients with paralabral cysts were retrospecti vely reviewed by three musculoskeletal radiologists. Patients. The pat ients included three men and four women with hip pain, ranging in age from 29 to 82 years. Two patients had developmental dysplasia of the h ip and six had a history of remote trauma/dislocation. Clinical histor y and follow-up were obtained in all patients. Surgery was performed o n one patient. Results and conclusions. Paralabral cysts were located in the posterosuperior aspect of the hip joint in five patients and in the anterior aspect in two patients. A tear of the adjacent acetabula r labrum was confirmed surgically in one patient, and in all patients the MR features suggested the presence of an abnormal labrum. Osteoart hritis was observed in three patients and there was associated subchon dral cyst formation in the acetabulum adjacent to the cyst in three pa tients. The paralabral cyst of the hip is well visualized on MR imagin g and is seen in patients with a predisposition to labral pathology.