MR findings of synovial disease in children and young adults: Part 1

Synovial diseases in children can be classified into normal structures as potential sources of pathology (synovial folds: plicae, infrapatellar fat pad clefts); noninfectious synovial proliferation (juvenile idiopathic arthritis, hemophilic arthropathy, lipoma arborescens, synovial osteochondromatosis, pigmented villonodular synovitis, reactive synovitis), and infectious synovial proliferation, deposition disease, vascular malformations, malignancy (including metastasis) and intra-articular/periarticular cysts and cyst-like structures (ganglia). Familiarity with characteristic MR imaging findings of synovial diseases in children and young adults will enable a more confident diagnosis for earlier intervention and directed therapy. The first part of this paper will cover potential pathology of normal synovial structures as well as noninfectious synovial proliferation.