Diagnostic value andand imaging findings of MRI for elbow ligament injuries in children and adolescents

LI Yize; WAN Guangliang; WANG Lei; ZUO Dapeng; WANG Fengming; SHI Xue; XU Shanshan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-3429.2026.06.011

Abstract：Objective To investigate the magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)findings of elbow ligament injuries in children and adolescents,and to assess the diagnostic value of MRI for this condition.Methods A total of 90 children and adolescents with elbow joint injuries who were admitted from January 2022 to January 2024 were selected as the study subjects.All patients underwent high-frequency ultrasound and MRI examinations.With the follow-up and surgical results as the gold standard,the consistency of the diagnostic results of high-frequency ultrasound and MRI for elbow ligament injuries was compared.The MRI imaging features were recorded,and the diagnostic efficacy of the two methods was analyzed using the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.The detection rates of different examination methods for the severity of elbow ligament injuries in children were compared.Results Among the 90 patients who were confirmed through follow-up and surgery,67 patients(74.44%)were diagnosed with ligament injuries of the elbow joint,14 patients(15.56%)had tendon injuries,and 9 patients(10.00%)had fractures of the elbow joint.The MRI findings of ligament injuries of the elbow joint showed that on T1-weighted imaging(T1WI),the injured ligaments appeared blurred and thickened,with partial continuity of the fibers.On proton density-weighted fat-suppressed(PDWI-FS)sequences,it presented as heterogeneous hyperintensity.The torn ligaments presented as blurred fibrous structure,with fibers that were thickened,discontinuous,and local fractures,and the original band-like low-signal areas showed high-signal changes.Complete torn ligaments presented as retraction and disruption of the fibers,loss of ligamentous structure at the torn ends,and the presence of surrounding tissue edema.The Kappa value of high-frequency ultrasound for detecting elbow ligament injuries was 0.580,and the Kappa value of MRI for elbow ligament injuries was 0.733.Through ROC curve analysis,the area under the ROC curve of high-frequency ultrasound and MRI for diagnosing elbow ligament injuries was 0.802 and 0.861 respectively,with sensitivities of 86.57% and 73.91%,and specificities of 94.03% and 78.26%;there was no significant difference in the detection rate of the severity of elbow ligament injuries between high-frequency ultrasound and MRI(P>0.05).Conclusion MRI has a high diagnostic value for elbow ligament injuries in children and adolescents.It can provide typical imaging findings and offer reliable references for clinical diagnosis.