IFIPI
Research type
Research Study
Full title
IFIPI: What is the Incidence of distal Femoral cortical Irregularities (DFCI) in adolescent Pivotal Injuries?
IRAS ID
289205
Contact name
Caroline Hing
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
A distal femoral cortical irregularity (DFCI) is described as a lesion in the cortex of the bone and is most commonly found of the posterior region of the distal femur, most often seen in adolescents. It is a benign lesion which usually causes the patient no symptoms and is most often an incidental finding, diagnosed on plain radiographs (XR) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It is thought that the lesion occurs due to a repetitive mechanical stress at the attachment site of skeletal muscle to the distal femur, commonly at the postero-medial distal femur, to which the medial head of the gastrocnemius (MHG) and the aponeurosis of the adductor magnus both attach. However, the pathogenesis is still not fully understood. Due to the uncertainty around the pathogenesis of the DFCI, this retrospective, non-interventional study, aims to assess the incidence of DFCI via MRI imaging of adolescents between the ages of 10-19 years who have suffered a pivotal injury to their knee from 2014-2019. Often, these benign lesions are identified as areas of concern on imaging due to extensive marrow and soft tissue oedema. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness amongst clinicians, as well and educate them on the benign nature of DFCI, as well as identify features which differentiate it from malignant tumours in the same region.
The study will be conducted at St George's University hospital where all data will be held. It should last around 6 months including data collection, analysis and write up. The study is observational, so participants will not need to be involved and there will be no change to their management.REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
21/WA/0041
Date of REC Opinion
10 Feb 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion