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Venous thrombosis: a mimic of musculoskeletal injury on MR imaging

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Abstract

Clinical signs and symptoms of venous thrombosis and musculoskeletal pathologies frequently overlap. Sometimes, patients with venous thrombosis undergo MR examinations under an equivocal suspicion of muscle, tendon or articular injury. A low pretest clinical suspicion and lack of familiarity with the conventional MR imaging signs of venous thrombosis may result in failure to diagnose venous thrombosis, delaying treatment and raising morbimortality. In MR imaging, thrombosis presents as venous ectasia with intraluminal heterogeneous content. Small vein thrombosis is often identified as having a branching aspect. Perivenous edema and inflammatory soft tissue changes may be the most prominent findings. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate MR findings of venous thrombosis in patients who underwent MR examinations due to suspected musculoskeletal pathologies. Cases of venous thrombosis in different sites of the body diagnosed through MR are presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, R. Adma Jafet, 91, São Paulo, 01308-050, Brazil

    Renata Vidal Leão, Eduarda Castelo Branco Araujo Bernal, Denise Tokechi Amaral, Marcos Felippe de Paula Correa & Paulo Victor Partezani Helito

  2. Department of Radiology Aspetar Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar

    Marcelo Bordalo Rodrigues

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  1. Renata Vidal Leão
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  2. Eduarda Castelo Branco Araujo Bernal
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Leão, R.V., Bernal, E.C.B.A., Rodrigues, M.B. et al. Venous thrombosis: a mimic of musculoskeletal injury on MR imaging. Skeletal Radiol 52, 1263–1276 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-022-04258-4

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