Role of adding T2 mapping sequence to the routine MR imaging protocol in the assessment of articular knee cartilage in osteoarthritis

Abstract

Background This work aims at elucidating the role of adding complementary T2 mapping to the routine 1.5 Tesla MRI protocol in the articular knee cartilage assessment for early detection of osteoarthritis, and also, comparing the articular cartilage thickness and T2 relaxation times between the case and control groups regarding knee compartments affection. Results Both sensitivities and specificities were 73.3% and 100%, respectively, for the standard MR protocol alone and 96.7% and 90% after adding the T2 mapping to the standard MR protocol that leads to significant sensitivity improvement. A comparison between patients and controls as regards T2 values showed a highly statistically significant difference (independent T test, p <0.001). Conclusion A combination of both morphological and T2 mapping MRI, together with clinical evaluation represents a desirable multimodal approach to the diagnosis of osteoarthritis. In the early detection of osteoarthritis, adding T2 mapping sequence to the standard MR protocol at 1.5 Tesla improved sensitivity from 73.3 to 96.7%.

Morphological and Quantitative Parametric MRI Follow-up of Cartilage Changes Before and After Intra-articular Injection Therapy in Patients With Mild to Moderate Knee Osteoarthritis

“…In addition, no correlation could be seen between age and T2/T2* values, although some other studies found increasing T2 and T2* parameters with age, especially in the medial compartment of the knee. 7,47,48 We found no significant intergroup changes regarding the progression of morphological cartilage degeneration. Progression was overall little to moderate over 12 months in our study cohort, which is similar to previous studies.…”

Two for One—Combined Morphologic and Quantitative Knee Joint MRI Using a Versatile Turbo Spin-Echo Platform

“…Likewise, assessing these parameters can help detect early OA, i.e., when the damage may still be reversible [7,8]. T2 mapping, when added to the clinical routine protocol, increased the sensitivity of detecting early OA [9,10]. However, the clinical adoption of T2 and T1ρ mapping techniques is, among other factors, impeded by their long acquisition times, which may take 10 min or more to cover the whole joint [11].…”

Time-efficient combined morphologic and quantitative joint MRI: an in situ study of standardized knee cartilage defects in human cadaveric specimens

“…Quantitative MRI techniques such as T2 or T1ρ mapping may be beneficial in detecting such changes at a potentially reversible stage [ 5 , 6 ]. Consensus prevails that adding T2 maps to the routine knee protocol improved sensitivity in detecting cartilage lesions significantly [ 3 , 6 ].…”

“…Quantitative MRI techniques such as T2 or T1ρ mapping may be beneficial in detecting such changes at a potentially reversible stage [ 5 , 6 ]. Consensus prevails that adding T2 maps to the routine knee protocol improved sensitivity in detecting cartilage lesions significantly [ 3 , 6 ]. The literature is less clear on T1ρ: even though the association between cartilage degeneration and prolongation of T1ρ relaxation is well established [ 7 , 8 ], its potential diagnostic benefits remain to be ascertained.…”