Figure 1

Sonographic appearance of the developing bone. a. Longitudinal sonographic view of the distal tibia showing the distal growth plate (G) as a hypo-echoic area, in between the diaphysis (D) and epiphysis (E). The growth plate should be differentiated from the joint space (*), which is located distal to the epiphysis. b. Longitudinal sonographic view of the knee joint in a 5 years old girl. Distal femoral epiphysis (E) is visualized distal to the diaphysis (D). The epiphysis shows peripheral non-ossified cartilage (c). The articular cartilage is seen as a superficial echogenic line overlying the cartilage (arrow). The differentiation of the joint components is enhanced by the acoustic window provided by a significant joint effusion (F).