Osgood - schlatter disease

(Robert Bayley Osgood, 1873 - 1956, American orthopaedist and Carl Schlatter, 1864 - 1934, Swiss surgeon), an osteochondrosis involving the tibial tuberosity, related to trauma or abnormal stress without evidence of osteonecrosis. Frequently the patient has a history of participation in sports. Local pain, tenderness of variable severity and firm palpable masses may occur in the involved region. Initially soft tissue swelling is noted in front of the tuberosity on radiographs; this finding results from oedema of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Later, single or multiple ossific collections can be observed in the avulsed fragment. On MR imaging patellar tendinitis is evident, with an abnormally large tendon of heterogenous signal intensity and deep infrapatellar bursitis.

Soft tissue swelling is fundamental to the radiographic diagnosis of Osgood Schlatter disease.

The pathogenesis may involve traumatically induced disruption somewhere along the site of attachment of the patellar tendon to the tibial tuberosity. Some patients also may have fragmentation of the inferior pole of the patella, which lends support to the possibility that a traumatic, tensile insult leads to the development of this syndrome. Reported complications of Osgood Schlatter disease include fracture nonunion of the bone fragment, patellar subluxation, chondromalacia patellae and avulsion of the patellar tendon.

DR