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MRI of Hoffa’s fat pad

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Abstract

The infrapatellar fat pad of Hoffa is commonly injured but rarely discussed in the radiological literature. Abnormalities within it most commonly are the consequences of trauma and degeneration, but inflammatory and neoplastic diseases of the synovium can be confined to the fat pad. The commonest traumatic lesions follow arthroscopy, but intrinsic signal abnormalities can also be due to posterior and superior impingements syndromes and following patellar dislocation. Infrapatellar plica syndrome may also be traumatic in aetiology. The precise aetiology of ganglion cysts is not understood; the principal differential diagnosis is a meniscal or cruciate cyst. Hoffa’s fat pad contains residual synovial tissue, meaning that primary neoplastic conditions of synovium may originate and be confined to the fat pad. Inflammatory changes along the posterior border of the pad may also be used to help differentiate effusion from acute synovitis on unenhanced MR examinations.

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Author notes

  1. D. Saddik

    Present address: Department of Radiology, Mayne The Avenue Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7LD, UK

    D. Saddik & E. G. McNally

  2. Department of Orthopaedics, Epworth Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    M. Richardson

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  1. D. Saddik
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  2. E. G. McNally
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  3. M. Richardson
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Correspondence to E. G. McNally.

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Saddik, D., McNally, E.G. & Richardson, M. MRI of Hoffa’s fat pad. Skeletal Radiol 33, 433–444 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-003-0724-z

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