Bone Marrow Edema: A Case of Regional Migratory Osteoporosis.

Bone marrow edema represents a typical pattern on magnetic resonance imaging consisting of an area of abnormal bone signal with low to intermediate intensity on T1 weighted images and a high intensity on fat suppressed T2 weighted images. Bone marrow edema syndromes are a group of entities characterized by idiopathic bone marrow edema and osteoporosis. Regional migratory osteoporosis is a bone marrow edema syndrome characterized by a self-limited migrating arthralgia of the lower limbs not related to trauma or other events. Its clinical presentation is variable and may include a less frequent form of migration of the bone marrow edema within the same joint, illustrated here by means of a case report. Conservative treatment is the preferred approach to this condition and usually it resolves completely and with no sequelae. Physicians should be made aware of this condition in order to avoid unnecessary and costly diagnostic and therapeutic measures.