Pediatric musculoskeletal MRI: basic principles to optimize success.

The purpose of this general review is to suggest practical strategies to optimize musculoskeletal MR imaging in children. The changes related to ossification and marrow transformation affect the MRI appearance during development. This review summarizes the normal appearance of the growing skeleton on various pulse sequences, as well as ways to optimize the imaging parameters. Appropriate patient positioning, choice of field of view and imaging coils are essential. There are various tools including intravenous contrast agent administration, fat suppression and parallel imaging that can enhance the depiction of abnormalities, increase speed of imaging, and improve overall quality of the study. Finally, special considerations for imaging at 3 T are also reviewed.