The incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in knees undergoing routine assessment of damage was found to be low but suggests the need to interrogate the popliteal vein for evidence of thrombosis, according to Dr. Ryan M. Shulman of the joint department of medical imaging of University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, and his colleagues.
They documented the appearance and determined the prevalence of findings suspicious for popliteal vein thrombosis on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessment of the knee joint by retrospectively reviewing 2,888 MRI examinations.
© Sebastian Kaulitzki/Thinkstock
MRI images were classified as showing either normal appearing popliteal vein or findings suspicious for popliteal vein thrombosis. They found 2,879 of the MRI studies as having a normal appearing popliteal vein, with 9 showing findings suspicious for popliteal vein thrombosis.
“Although the prevalence of MR findings is low (0.3%), our findings reiterate the need to interrogate the popliteal vein for evidence of thrombosis,” Dr. Shulman and his colleagues concluded.
Find the full study online the Journal of Clinical Imaging 2015 (doi: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2015.09.008).