The diabetic charcot foot: MRI discloses bone stress injury as trigger mechanism of neuroarthropathy.

It is generally accepted that traumatic bone injury contributes to the clinical picture of neuroarthropathy of the foot in diabetes, i.e., of the diabetic Charcot foot. While radiology is capable of visualizing only advanced bone injuries, like complete fractures, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) discloses bone injuries that precede complete fractures (stress bone injuries). In diabetic polyneuropathy, stress bone injuries are silent in terms of pain, due to the lack of pain sensation. At the foot, their clinical appearance is characterized by inflammatory swelling with little or no pain. The present paper reviews the contribution of MRI to the detection of bone injuries in what is called stage 0 Charcot foot, with emphasis on the bearings for the treatment strategy.