Fig. 2
From: Lumbar spine MRI findings in asymptomatic elite male academy footballers: a case series
(a) 17-year-old male professional football player with no symptoms. (a) Sagittal T2 sequence demonstrating high signal in the left L5 pedicle and pars interarticularis indicating acute bone stress (white arrow). There is a suggestion of a low signal fracture line, but this is not definitive. (b) 17-year-old male professional football player with no symptoms. (b) Sagittal 3D T1 spoiled gradient echo VIBE sequence demonstrating a definitive fracture line in the left L5 pars interarticularis (white arrow) in the region of bone marrow oedema shown in the T2 sequence (a). This extends posterosuperiorly from the inferior cortex of the pars but does not reach the superior cortex in keeping with an incomplete fracture. The fracture margins are indistinct which in combination with the bone oedema seen in (a) confirms that this is an acute incomplete pars stress fracture (grade 2)