OBJECTIVE To present the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings in patients with labral cysts adjacent to the acetabulum and to examine their association with hip pathology. METHODS MR images and conventional radiographs of seven patients with paralabral cysts were retrospectively reviewed by three musculoskeletal radiologists. METHODS The patients included three men and four women with hip pain, ranging in age from 29 to 82 years. Two patients had developmental dysplasia of the hip and six had a history of remote trauma/dislocation. Clinical history and follow-up were obtained in all patients. Surgery was performed on one patient. CONCLUSIONS Paralabral cysts were located in the posterosuperior aspect of the hip joint in five patients and in the anterior aspect in two patients. A tear of the adjacent acetabular labrum was confirmed surgically in one patient, and in all patients the MR features suggested the presence of an abnormal labrum. Osteoarthritis was observed in three patients and there was associated subchondral cyst formation in the acetabulum adjacent to the cyst in three patients. The paralabral cyst of the hip is well visualized on MR imaging and is seen in patients with a predisposition to labral pathology.