Comparing MRI and arthroscopic appearances of common knee pathologies: A pictorial review.

Knee pathology, including anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, meniscal tears, articular cartilage lesions, and intra-articular masses or cysts are common clinical entities treated by orthopedic surgeons with arthroscopic surgery. Preoperatively, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now standard in confirming knee pathology, particularly detecting pathology less evident with history and physical examination alone. The radiologist's MRI interpretation becomes essential in evaluating intra-articular knee structures. Typically, the radiologist that interprets the MRI does not have the opportunity to view the same pathology arthroscopically. Thus, the purpose of this article is to illustratively reconcile what the orthopedic surgeon sees arthroscopically with what the radiologist sees on magnetic resonance imaging when viewing the same pathology. Correlating virtual and actual images can help better understand pathology, resulting in more accurate MRI interpretations. In this article, we present and review a series of MR and correlating arthroscopic images of ACL tears, meniscal tears, chondral lesions, and intra-articular masses and cysts. Short teaching points are included to highlight the importance of radiological signs and pathological MRI appearance with significant clinical and arthroscopic findings.

Clear Cell Change in Reactive Angiogenesis: A Potential Diagnostic Pitfall.

Reactive angiogenesis is commonplace, occurs in many circumstances, and is important in the repair of injured tissue. Histologically, it is characterized by newly formed capillaries arranged in a lobular architecture and lined by plump endothelial cells. We have encountered a form of reactive angiogenesis not well described; composed of large endothelial cells with abundant clear cytoplasm that causes diagnostic challenges. The cohort includes 10 patients, aged 4 to 61, mean 40 years; 7 males, 3 females. One case involved bone (ilium), and 9 involved soft tissue: fingers (n=2), toes (n=2), hip joint (n=1), shoulder (n=1), thigh (n=2), and anal mucosa (n=1). Clinically, the patients had chronic ulcers, osteomyelitis, or localized infection. All cases exhibited a lobular proliferation of capillaries lined by large polyhedral endothelial cells that obscured the vessel lumens and were admixed with acute and chronic inflammation. The endothelial nuclei were vesicular with small nucleoli and the cytoplasm was abundant and clear or palely eosinophilic. The endothelial cells were stained with CD31 and ERG (7/7 cases), CD34 (6/6), FLI1 (4/4), and were negative for keratin and CD68 (6/6). Periodic acid-Schiff stain and periodic acid-Schiff stain-diastase on 3 cases did not demonstrate glycogen. Using a polymerase chain reaction, no Bartonella henselae was found in all 6 cases tested. Reactive angiogenesis with clear cell change unassociated with Bartonella spp. has not been described. It causes diagnostic challenges and the differential diagnosis includes benign and malignant tumors, as well as unusual infections. It is important to distinguish between these possibilities because of the significant impact on treatment and prognosis.

Unusual Presentation of Renal Medullary Carcinoma With Undiagnosed Sickle Cell Trait.

Renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) is an extremely rare malignancy that has been described in younger male patients of African descent with a history of sickle cell disease or trait. We describe a rather unique case of RMC in an older male patient who initially presented with acute on chronic urinary retention and concern for infection. Further investigation revealed a history of hematuria and long-standing microcytic anemia, and the patient was found to have sickle cell trait (SCT) as part of a workup for malignancy of unknown primary. Imaging findings initially interpreted as hydronephrosis later characterized a mass in the renal pelvis concerning for a genitourinary malignancy, later biopsy-proven RMC. RMC typically presents in its advanced stages, with associated poor prognosis, and treatment options are limited and have been extrapolated from standard regimens for other genitourinary malignancies. Therefore, early clinical suspicion in patients with microcytic anemia, flank pain, hematuria, and urinary symptoms, can aid in the diagnosis of RMC and allow for prompt intervention.

The Fallacy of Teaching and the Illusion of Learning: Improving Articulation of Basic Science in the Medical School Curriculum.

Despite calls from educators to re-engineer how faculty deliver medical student curricula with integrated basic science concepts, this content is still frequently disarticulated from other curricular components. We renewed our curriculum using evidence-based pedagogical and cognitive learning strategies to interleave basic science across the 4-year curriculum.