Focal Herniation of Hoffa’s Fat Pad in a Child: Ultrasonographic Findings of a Rare Entity
Keywords:
Diagnostic imaging, Hoffa’s fat pad, focal fat pad herniation, lateral patellar retinaculum, dynamic ultrasonography, pediatric knee, knee ultrasound, soft-tissue herniation.Abstract
A 4-year-old boy presented with a painless mass over the anterolateral aspect of the left knee for 4 months. The mass was apparent only during squatting or knee flexion and was barely detectable with the knee in extension. High-resolution ultrasonography performed with the knee in the extended position showed no abnormality. However, dynamic ultrasonographic examination during knee flexion demonstrated a well-defined, heterogeneous, fat-containing mass-like protrusion extending toward the subcutaneous tissues through a focal defect in the lateral patellar retinaculum. The findings were consistent with focal herniation of Hoffa’s fat pad through a defect in the lateral patellar retinaculum. This case highlights the diagnostic value of dynamic ultrasonography in detecting position-dependent soft-tissue abnormalities and identifying focal defects of the lateral patellar retinaculum in pediatric patients.
BJusg. vol. 27, no. 1, June 2026, Page: 38-42
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Copyright (c) 2026 Md. Sunny Anam Chowdhury, Md. Nazmul Hossain, Sujon Mahmud (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
