Acute fracture of the neck of the femur - An assessment of perfusion of the head by dynamic MRI

We performed dynamic MRI of the femoral head within 48 hours of injury on 2 2 patients with subcapital fracture of the neck of the femur and on a contr ol group of 20 of whom ten were healthy subjects and ten were patients with an intertrochanteric fracture, Three MRI patterns emerged when the results between the fractured side and the contralateral femoral head were compare d. Tn all of the control group and in those patients who had undisplaced fr actures (Garden stages I and II), perfusion of the femoral head was conside red to be at the same level as on the unaffected side. Tn patients with dis placed fractures (Garden stages III and IV) almost all the femoral heads on the fractured side were impaired or totally avascular, although some had t he same level of perfusion as the unaffected side. We conclude that dynamic MRI, a new non-invasive imaging technique, is useful for evaluating the pe rfusion of the femoral head.