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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2025; 35(01): 109-122
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1790238
Mini-Symposium

Chronic Noninfectious Osteomyelitis: A Review of Imaging Findings

Stuti Chandola 
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis and Interventional Radiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
,
Narendra Bagri
2   Division of Paediatric Rheumatology, Department of Paediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
,
Savvas Andronikou
3   Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
,
A.V. Ramanan
4   Department of Paediatric Rheumatology, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children & Translational Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
,
Manisha Jana
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis and Interventional Radiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Chronic noninfectious osteomyelitis or chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis (CNO), also known as chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis, is an autoinflammatory bone disorder primarily affecting the pediatric age group. Currently, it is diagnosed on the basis of clinical, laboratory, and imaging features. Imaging plays a crucial role in the diagnosis and follow-up of CNO with whole body magnetic resonance imaging (WBMRI) being the main modality. Radiographs assist in exclusion of common differential diagnoses like infections and malignancy. WBMRI aids in disease detection and exclusion of differential diagnoses, identifies additional lesions, and has a role in ascertaining the pattern of bony involvement which helps with prognostication and grading. Recent recognition of specific morphological and distribution patterns on WBMRI is increasingly allowing an upfront diagnosis of this entity to be made on imaging alone. It is also helpful for assessment of response to therapy during follow-up. This review aims to summarize the role of imaging in the evaluation of CNO, with special emphasis on WBMRI in its assessment.

Keywords

chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis - chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis - autoinflammatory - whole body MRI - nonbacterial osteitis - radiograph


Publication History

Article published online:
03 September 2024

© 2024. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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