Osteochondral Lesion of Talus

Here is an example of a totally undisplaced fracture of the talus in a patient who had persistent ankle pain following trauma. Plain X-rays were normal. There is a large area of bone oedema in the medial aspect of the talar dome with fracture lines which have healed (the injury was of some standing) extending into the talar neck. The overlying cartilage (seen best on the last image - magnified view) is intact.

Corresponding coronal T1 and STIR images at are shown:





Magnified coronal T1 image. The cartilage overlying both the tibial plafond and talar dome can be seen to be intact. The very thin dark line seen between these two layers of cartilage is normal joint fluid.