According to ARRS’ American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), rickets and classic metaphyseal lesions (CMLs) exhibit distinct radiographic signs, and radiologists can reliably differentiate these two entities.
Noting both high interobserver agreement and diagnostic performance for differentiating the two entities in this 7-center study, “recognition that CMLs mostly occur in children younger than 6 months and are unusual in children older than 1 year may assist interpretations,” wrote corresponding author Boaz Karmazyn from the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, IN.
Karmazyn and colleagues’ retrospective study included children younger than 2 years old who underwent knee radiographs from January 2017 to December 2018 and who either had rickets (25-hydroxy vitamin D <20 ng/mL and abnormal knee radiographs) or knee CMLs and a diagnosis of child abuse from a pediatrician. Eight…