Hand and Wrist Imaging

Welcome to this issue of Seminars in Musculoskeletal Radiology dedicated to the imaging of the hand and wrist, which will also be the topic of the annual European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology (ESSR) meeting in June 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria.

I would like to thank the editors for offering me the opportunity to act as guest editor. It was a real pleasure while organizing the annual ESSR meeting to welcome contributions to this issue of Seminars.

Hand and wrist imaging has received a lot of interest in the past decade. As early as 2001, it was a topic in our third issue; in 2009 Jean-Luc Drapé presented enthusiastically “New Perspectives in Imaging of the Wrist and Hand” by serving as a guest editor of Seminars. [1] Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the hand and wrist at 3 and 7T continues to this day to attract a lot of interest. Marc-André Weber et al from the University Hospital of Heidelberg present cutting-edge work on cartilage imaging of the hand and wrist using 3-T MRI. Klaus M. Friedrich and Siegfried Trattnig, both from the Medical University of Vienna, show impressive advantages of 7T in imaging of the wrist compared with systems of lower field strength. Iris-M. Nöbauer-Huhmann and colleagues, also from the Medical University of Vienna, add new insights into anatomy and variants of the triangular fibrocartilage complex by using MRI at 3 and 7T.

The next two articles deal with extrinsic capsular wrist ligaments, which are probably as important as the intrinsic interosseous ligaments for the maintenance of carpal stability. Mihra S. Taljanovic et al from the University of Arizona Health Network give a comprehensive description of the relevant anatomy by 3-T MRI and high-resolution ultrasonography; Mariyam Shahabpour and colleagues from the University Hospital Brussels cover the pathological features of these structures and their impact on clinical decision making.

It has now become clear that electrophysiology, the clinical gold standard for nerve assessment, does not always help us reach a conclusive diagnosis. Thus imaging plays an important role. Tagliafico and colleagues from the University of Genoa present the potential of ultrasound (US) in assessing nerve damage, due to its high-resolution capacity for determining the location, extent, and type of nerve lesion in the hand and wrist of even very small distal branches.

The imaging, diagnosis, and management of carpal tunnel syndrome is an old topic but continues to be debated in the daily clinical routine. David Wilson and Gina Allen from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and St. Luke's Radiology make the important point that both US examination and MRI are powerful and often complementary techniques in various clinical settings.

A comprehensive overview on congenital malformations of the hand and forearm in children and what radiologists should know is contributed by Nathalie Boutry, Julie Aucourt, and colleagues from Lille, affiliated with Roger Salengro Hospital and Jeanne de Flandre Hospital.

Last, but not least, Mihra S. Taljanovic et al present the anatomy, mechanism of injury, classification, and complications of scaphoid fractures, with an emphasis on MRI, along with a treatment algorithm.

I wish to express my deepest thanks to all the contributors and for their willingness to focus on clinical impact.

In addition, I would like to thank the following mentors for supporting me in musculoskeletal radiology: Anne Cotten from Roger Salengro Hospital, Lille; Carlo Martinoli from the University of Genoa; Klaus Bohndorf from the Department of Radiology, Augsburg; and Giuseppe Guglielmi from University degli Studi di Foggia.

I hope to see you all at ESSR 2012 in Innsbruck and wish you an enjoyable reading of this issue of Seminars in Musculoskeletal Radiology.

• Reference

• 1 Drape JL. Preface: New perspectives in imaging of the wrist and hand. Semin Musculoskelet Radiol 2009; 13: 1-2