A longitudinal insufficiency fracture of the tibia in association with a healed chronic osteomyelitis

Longitudinal stress fracture of the tibia often present with an atypical cl inical presentation which can be mistaken for osseous tumor or osteomyeliti s. We present a;case of longitudinal stress fracture of the tibia which occ urred in a patient with healed chronic osteomyelitis of the tibia. Magnetic resonance imaging failed to make the correct diagnosis. Accurate diagnosis was only obtained by helical CT which showed the longitudinal fracture lin e. Magnetic resonance imaging showed only non-specific signs of bone marrow edema, suggesting recurrence of osteomyelitis. Magnetic resonance imaging can be misleading in the absence of direst visualization of the fracture li ne.