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Echocardiogram of the joints is normal.
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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The contours of bone structures appear as hyperechoic lines with a distal acoustic shadow. Hyaline cartilage, located on the articulating surface of joints, consists of collagen, glycosaminoglycans, glycoproteins and elastin.
In young people, ultrasound examination always shows a hypo- or anechoic linear stripe-like structure on the joint surface.
The thickness of the hyaline cartilage is easy to measure in the presence of a small amount of synovial fluid in the joint cavity. The echogenicity of the cartilage increases with age, as well as with the development of chondrocalcinosis. Hyaline cartilage is not visible on radiographs, since it is transparent to X-rays.
Currently, MR imaging is the main method for studying hyaline cartilage. MR images obtained using gradient sequences provide virtually anatomical information about the cartilage.
On ultrasound examination, articular cartilage appears hyperechoic due to the large number of differently oriented collagen fibers. A typical example of hyperechoic articular cartilage is the menisci.
The synovial membrane lines the joints. It is involved in the production of synovial fluid, which provides nutrition to the hyaline cartilage. Normal synovium is difficult to discern on conventional MRI scans, although it can be seen on T2-weighted images using contrast-enhanced FLASH. The iron-rich synovium is reflected by signal shortening on all sequences.
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