Can bone marrow edema be seen on STIR images of the ankle and foot after 1 week of running?

Purpose: To evaluate whether initiation of running in sedentary individuals would lead to bone marrow edema on MR images, within the time span of 1 week. Materials and methods: The feet of 10 healthy volunteers were imaged by MR imaging before and after running during 30 min a day for I week. The images were evaluated by consensus of 2 musculoskeletal radiologists who graded the presence of bone marrow edema on a 4-point scale. Edema scores and number of bones involved before and after running were compared statistically. Results: Edema was present on the baseline images in 3 subjects. After running edema showed an increase or was present in 5 subjects. The changes after running were statistically significant. Bones involved were the talus, calcaneus, navicular bone, cuboid bone, and 5th metatarsal. Conclusion: Edema patterns can be seen in the feet of asymptomatic individuals. During initiation of running an increase of edema or development of new edema areas can be seen. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.