Introduction: Peroneal tendon disorders pose a diagnostic conundrum to the clinician. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used to assess tendon pathology. A recognized artifact of MRI, the magic angle effect (MAE), can lead to spurious results and inappropriate management. The aim of this study is to assess whether T2 fat-suppressed sequences (T2FSs) reduce the frequency of MAE compared with proton density fat-suppressed (PDFS) images.
Methods: MRI scans of 18 patients were prospectively assessed for MAE. The peroneal tendons were assessed at 5 defined levels on PDFS and T2FS images. The frequency of MAE in the peroneal tendons were compared between the 2 scan sequences.
Results: In the peroneus brevis tendon, 17/72 levels, on PDFS scans, showed MAE compared with 2/72 levels on the T2FS scans, demonstrating a reduction in the MAE by 85% (P = .0003). In the peroneus longus tendon 14/72 levels, on PDFS scans, demonstrated MAE compared with 4/72 on T2FSs, demonstrating a reduction of 71% (P = .02).
Conclusion: The inclusion of T2-weighted sequences is useful in MRI scanning for peroneal tendons to mitigate the MAE artifact, avoid potential misdiagnosis, and guide subsequent management of peroneal tendon disorders. Levels of Evidence: Level IV: Case series.
Keywords: MRI scan; magic angle effect; peroneal tendon tear; peroneal tendonitis.