T1ρ MRI quantification of arthroscopically confirmed cartilage degeneration

✍ Scribed by Walter R. T. Witschey; Arijitt Borthakur; Matt Fenty; Bruce J. Kneeland; Jess H. Lonner; Erin L. McArdle; Matt Sochor; Ravinder Reddy

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 478 KB
• Volume: 63
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0740-3194
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.22272

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Nine asymptomatic subjects and six patients underwent T~1~ρ MRI to determine whether Outerbridge grade 1 or 2 cartilage degeneration observed during arthroscopy could be detected noninvasively. MRI was performed 2‐3 months postarthroscopy, using sagittal T~1~‐weighted and axial and coronal T~1~ρ MRI, from which spatial T~1~ρ relaxation maps were calculated from segmented T~1~‐weighted images. Median T~1~ρ relaxation times of patients with arthroscopically documented cartilage degeneration and asymptomatic subjects were significantly different (P < 0.001), and median T~1~ρ exceeded asymptomatic articular cartilage median T~1~ρ by 2.5 to 9.2 ms. In eight observations of mild cartilage degeneration at arthroscopy (Outerbridge grades 1 and 2), mean compartment T~1~ρ was elevated in five, but in all observations, large foci of increased T~1~ρ were observed. It was determined that T~1~ρ could detect some, but not all, Outerbridge grade 1 and 2 cartilage degeneration but that a larger patient population is needed to determine the sensitivity to these changes. Magn Reson Med 63:1376–1382, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.