Abstract
A case of traumatic pancreatitis with subsequent intraosseous fat necrosis and osteonecrosis is presented. A 23-year-old female patient suffered from acute pancreatitis caused by a traffic accident in 1994. Pain and limited motion of the right elbow joint occured in 1996.
X-ray and 99mTc bone scintigraphic examinations revealed multiple osteonecrotic lesions of both shoulders, the right elbow, both hips, both knees and both ankle joints.
Magnetic resonance (MR) images showed avascular necrosis in the right humeral epicondyle, both femoral heads, and the left femoral and tibial condyle. Multiple foci of abnormal signal intensity, in the marrow of the distal femur, were recognized by MR images as being compatible with the fat necrosis secondary to traumatic pancreatitis.
Lymphocytosis, deposition of hemosiderin, osteonecrosis and fat necrosis were observed in histological studies of the left tibial condyle.
