Osteochondral lesions of the talus.

Background: Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been demonstrated to be a valuable tool in diagnosing osteochondral lesions of the talus. No previous study, to our knowledge, has evaluated the diagnostic ability of fat-suppressed fast spoiled gradient-echo (FSPGR) MRI in osteochondral lesions of the talus. We sought to compare three-dimensional fat-suppressed FSPGR MRI with conventional MRI in diagnosing osteochondral lesions of the talus. Methods: Thirty-two consecutive patients with clinically suspected cartilage lesions undergoing three-dimensional fat-suppressed FSPGR MRI and conventional MRI were assessed. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of diagnosis were determined using arthroscopic findings as the standard of reference for the different imaging techniques. The location of the lesion on the talar dome was recorded on a nine-zone anatomical grid on MRIs. Results: Arthroscopy revealed 21 patients with hyaline cartilage defects and 11 with normal ankle joints. The sensitivity, spe...