Imaging of knee osteoarthritis: Data beyond the beauty

Current Opinion in Rheumatology

Volumn 19, Issue 5, 2007, Pages 435-443

  Eckstein, Felix ^a,b   Mosher, Timothy ^c   Hunter, David ^d  

^a PARACELSUS MEDICAL UNIVERSITY   (Austria)

^b Chondrometrics GmbH   (Germany)

^c PENN STATE COLLEGE OF MEDICINE   (United States)

^d BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE   (United States)

Author keywords

Clinical outcome; Diarthrodial joint; MRI; Osteoarthritis

Indexed keywords

CARTILAGE; DISEASE COURSE; HUMAN; KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS; MEDICAL ASSESSMENT; MORPHOLOGY; NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; PRIORITY JOURNAL; QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; RADIOGRAPHY; REVIEW;

ANTIRHEUMATIC AGENTS; CARTILAGE, ARTICULAR; HUMANS; IMAGE PROCESSING, COMPUTER-ASSISTED; IMAGING, THREE-DIMENSIONAL; KNEE; MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; OSTEOARTHRITIS;

EID: 34548304086     PISSN: 10408711     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1097/BOR.0b013e328248b4be     Document Type: Review

References (100)

1. Nevitt MC, Sharma L. OMERACT workshop radiography session 1. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl A):A4-A9.
2. Rovati LC, Pavelka K, Giacovelli G, et al. Assessment of joint space narrowing with conventional standing antero-posterior radiographs: relief in mild-to-moderate pain is not a confounder in recent osteoarthritis structure-modifying drug trials. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl A):A14-A18.
3. Buckland-Wright C. Review of the anatomical and radiological differences between fluoroscopic and nonfluoroscopic positioning of osteoarthritic knees. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl A):A19-A31.
4. Cline GA, Meyer JM, Stevens R, et al. Comparison of fixed flexion, fluoroscopic semi-flexed and MTP radiographic methods for obtaining the minimum medial joint space width of the knee in longitudinal osteoarthritis trials. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl A):A32-A36. This was one of the few studies comparing different radiographic protocols, but was limited by the fact that techniques were applied to different cohorts. Fluoroscopic guided radiography, however, showed a greater magnitude and lower standard deviation of joint space narrowing (higher standardized response mean) than nonfluroscopic techniques (fixed flexion or metatarso-phalangeal).
5. Le Graverand MP, Mazzuca S, Lassere M, et al. Assessment of the radioanatomic positioning of the osteoarthritic knee in serial radiographs: comparison of three acquisition techniques. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl A):A37-A43. This study reported that paired radiographs with near-parallel alignment showed a higher standardized response mean for joint space narrowing than those without, and that near-parallel alignment of the tibial plateau was achieved more frequently with the fluoroscopically guided semi-flexed anterior-posterior protocol than with the nonfluoroscopic fixed flexion or metatarso-phalangeal protocol.
6. Peterfy C, Kothari M. Imaging osteoarthritis: magnetic resonance imaging versus x-ray. Curr Rheumatol Rep 2006; 8:16-21.
7. Gale DR, Chaisson CE, Totterman SM, et al. Meniscal subluxation: association with osteoarthritis and joint space narrowing. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 1999; 7:526-532.
8. Adams JG, McAlindon T, Dimasi M, et al. Contribution of meniscal extrusion and cartilage loss to joint space narrowing in osteoarthritis. Clin Radiol 1999; 54:502-506.
9. Hunter DJ, Zhang YQ, Tu X, et al. Change in joint space width: hyaline articular cartilage loss or alteration in meniscus? Arthritis Rheum 2006; 54:2488-2495. This study highlighted that the meniscus (both its position and degeneration) accounts for a substantial proportion of the variance in joint space width, and that the change in meniscal position accounts for a substantial proportion of change in JSN. This has important implications for trials testing osteoarthritis disease modifying treatments.
10. Peterfy C, Woodworth T, Altman R. Workshop for consensus on osteoarthritis imaging. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl 1):1.
11. Conaghan PG, Felson D, Gold G, et al. MRI and noncartilaginous structures in knee osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl 1):87-94. This review provides a comprehensive summary on current MRI methods for identifying and quantifying noncartilaginous structures and summarizes their associations with both ostoarthritis symptoms and structural progression of osteoarthritis.
12. Peterfy CG, Guermazi A, Zaim S, et al. Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (WORMS) of the knee in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2004; 12:177-190.
13. Roemer FW, Guermazi A, Lynch JA, et al. Short tau inversion recovery and proton density-weighted fat suppressed sequences for the evaluation of osteoarthritis of the knee with a 1.0 T dedicated extremity MRI: development of a time-efficient sequence protocol. Eur Radiol 2005; 15:978-987.
14. Kornaat PR, Ceulemans RY, Kroon HM, et al. MRI assessment of knee osteoarthritis: Knee Osteoarthritis Scoring System (KOSS): inter-observer and intra-observer reproducibility of a compartment-based scoring system. Skeletal Radiol 2005; 34:95-102.
15. Conaghan PG, Hunter D, Tennant A, et al. Evaluation an MRI scoring system for osteoarthritis of the knee using modern psychometric approaches [abstract]. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2004; 12 (Suppl B):S118.
16. Peterfy CG, Gold G, Eckstein F, et al. MRI protocols for whole-organ assessment of the knee in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl 1):95-111. This study summarized MRI protocol and sequence considerations for whole organ assessment in knee osteoarthritis.
17. Ben Galim P, Steinberg EL, Amir H, et al. Accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging of the knee and unjustified surgery. Clin Orthop Relat Res 2006; 447:100-104. This study highlighted that MRI assessment of joint integrity has only limited accuracy when not being performed in expert centers.
18. Conaghan PG, Tennant A, Peterfy CG, et al. Examining a whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging scoring system for osteoarthritis of the knee using Rasch analysis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl 1):116-121. This study employed RASCH analysis of the WORMS instrument and demonstrated that a substantial proportion of subjects in the study populations evaluated had zero scores in several of the WORMS subscales. Few of the subscales met the requirements of the RASCH measurement model when summed across all sites, and summations of some postulated compartmentally based sites also failed to fit the RASCH model. This limits the validity of the subscales generated.
19. Felson DT, Chaisson CE, Hill CL, et al. The association of bone marrow lesions with pain in knee osteoarthritis. Ann Intern Med 2001; 134:541-549.
20. Sowers MF, Hayes C, Jamadar D, et al. Magnetic resonance-detected subchondral bone marrow and cartilage defect characteristics associated with pain and X-ray-defined knee osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2003; 11:387-393.
21. Link TM, Steinbach LS, Ghosh S, et al. Osteoarthritis: MR imaging findings in different stages of disease and correlation with clinical findings. Radiology 2003; 226:373-381.
22. Kornaat PR, Bloem JL, Ceulemans RY, et al. Osteoarthritis of the knee: association between clinical features and MR imaging findings. Radiology 2006; 239:811-817. This study in 205 patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis reported that large joint effusion was associated with pain (OR, 9.99) and stiffness (OR, 4.67), and the presence of patellorfemoral osteophytes with pain (OR, 2.25), but that other imaging findings, including focal or diffuse cartilaginous abnormalities, subchondral cysts, bone marrow edema, subluxation of the meniscus, meniscal tears, or Baker cysts, were not associated with symptoms.
23. Torres L, Dunlop DD, Peterfy C, et al. The relationship between specific tissue lesions and pain severity in persons with knee osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14:1033-1040. This study in 143 patients with primary (idiopathic) knee osteoarthritis and definite tibiofemoral osteophytes reports a significant increase in median pain for bone attrition, bone marrow lesions, meniscal tears, and grade 2 or 3 synovitis/effusion, borderline significance for osteophytes and cartilage status, and no significance for bone cysts or meniscal subluxation.
24. Hunter DJ, Zhang YQ, Niu JB, et al. The association of meniscal pathologic changes with cartilage loss in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheum 2006; 54:795-801. This study in 264 patients highlighted the importance of an intact and functioning meniscus in subjects with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, in that loss of this function has important consequences for cartilage loss.
25. Hunter DJ, Zhang Y, Niu J, et al. Increase in bone marrow lesions associated with cartilage loss: a longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study of knee osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheum 2006; 54:1529-1535. This study in 217 subjects highlighted that bone marrow lesions are unlikely to resolve and often get larger over time. Compared to BMLs that stay the same, enlarging BMLs are strongly associated with more rapid cartilage loss. Furthermore, change in BML is mediated by limb alignment.
26. Hunter DJ, Conaghan PG, Peterfy CG, et al. Responsiveness, effect size, and smallest detectable difference of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in knee osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl 1):112-115. This study in 150 subjects identified that MRI measures of cartilage morphology, synovitis and osteophytes appeared to be more responsive to change than other measures, albeit all the effect sizes and standardized response means were small.
27. Gold GE, Burstein D, Dardzinski B, et al. MRI of articular cartilage in OA: novel pulse sequences and compositional/functional markers. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl 1):76-86.
28. Eckstein F, Cicuttini F, Raynauld JP, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of articular cartilage in knee osteoarthritis (OA): morphological assessment. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14 (Suppl 1):46-75. This review provides a comprehensive summary of current MRI and image analysis methods for quantifying articular cartilage morphology (volume, thickness and others) and reviews validation and test-retest studies. The review also provides a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies published to date.
29. Gold GE, Reeder SB, Yu H, et al. Articular cartilage of the knee: rapid three-dimensional MR imaging at 3.0 T with IDEAL balanced steady-state free precession-initial experience. Radiology 2006; 240:546-551.
30. Pakin SK, Cavalcanti C, La Rocca R, et al. Ultra-high-field MRI of knee joint at 7.0T: preliminary experience. Acad Radiol 2006; 13:1135-1142. This study was the first to describe diarthrodial joint imaging at 7 Tesla.
31. Eckstein F, Charles HC, Buck RJ, et al. Accuracy and precision of quantitative assessment of cartilage morphology by magnetic resonance imaging at 3.0T. Arthritis Rheum 2005; 52:3132-3136.
32. Eckstein F, Hudelmaier M, Wirth W, et al. Double echo steady state magnetic resonance imaging of knee articular cartilage at 3 Tesla: a pilot study for the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Ann Rheum Dis 2006; 65:433-441. This is the first publication from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) pilot study and compares the test-retest precision of a double echo steady state MR sequence with water excitation used in the OAI with that of the previously validated FLASHwe sequence. The study reports similar reproducibility and quantitative agreement of the two protocols.
33. Kornaat PR, Koo S, Andriacchi TP, et al. Comparison of quantitative cartilage measurements acquired on two 3.0T MRI systems from different manufacturers. J Magn Reson Imaging 2006; 23:770-773.
34. Inglis D, Pui M, Ioannidis G, et al. Accuracy and test-retest precision of quantitative cartilage morphology on a 1.0 T peripheral magnetic resonance imaging system. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2007; 15:110-115.
35. Eisenhart-Rothe R, Graichen H, Hudelmaier M, et al. Femorotibial and patellar cartilage loss in patients prior to total knee arthroplasty, heterogeneity, and correlation with alignment of the knee. Ann Rheum Dis 2006; 65:69-73.
36. Otterness IG, Eckstein F. Women have thinner cartilage and smaller joint surfaces than men after adjustment for body height and weight. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2007 Feb 21; [Epub ahead of print].
37. Wang Y, Ding C, Wluka AE, et al. Factors affecting progression of knee cartilage defects in normal subjects over 2 years. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2006; 45:79-84.
38. Eckstein F, Ateshian G, Burgkart R, et al. Proposal for a nomenclature for magnetic resonance imaging based measures of articular cartilage in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14:974-983. This proposal by an international group of experts presents a nomenclature for definitions and names to be used in scientific communications on MRI measurement of cartilage morphology or composition and gives recommendations as to which minimal methodological information should be provided when reporting MRI-based measures of articular cartilage in osteoarthritis.
39. Mosher TJ, Pruett SW. Magnetic resonance imaging of superficial cartilage lesions: role of contrast in lesion detection. J Magn Reson Imaging 1999; 10:178-182.
40. Eckstein F, Heudorfer L, Faber SC, et al. Long-term and resegmentation precision of quantitative cartilage MR imaging (qMRI). Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2002; 10:922-928.
41. Eckstein F, Kunz M, Hudelmaier M, et al. Impact of coil design on the contrast-to-noise ratio, precision, and consistency of quantitative cartilage morphometry at 3 Tesla: a pilot study for the osteoarthritis initiative. Magn Reson Med 2007; 57:448-454. This describes the first study to apply phase array coils in quantitative cartilage imaging, derived from Osteoarthritis Initiative pilot data. The study reported no increased precision of cartilage morphometry with phased array coils, despite higher contrast-to-noise ratios for cartilage tissue.
42. Gandy SJ, Dieppe PA, Keen MC, et al. No loss of cartilage volume over three years in patients with knee osteoarthritis as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2002; 10:929-937.
43. Cicuttini FM, Wluka AE, Wang Y, et al. Longitudinal study of changes in tibial and femoral cartilage in knee osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheum 2004; 50:94-97.
44. Wluka AE, Stuckey S, Snaddon J, et al. The determinants of change in tibial cartilage volume in osteoarthritic knees. Arthritis Rheum 2002; 46:2065-2072.
45. Wluka AE, Forbes A, Wang Y, et al. Knee cartilage loss in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis over 4.5 years. Arthritis Res Ther 2006; 8:R90. This study described cartilage volume loss in a cohort 78 subjects over a period of 2 and 4.5 years, respectively. The annual percentage losses (over 4.5 years) were 3.7±4.7% (mean ± SD) in the medial tibia and 4.4±44.7% in the lateral tibia. Cartilage volume in each individual seemed to track over the study period relative to other study participants.
46. Raynauld JP, Martel-Pelletier J, Berthiaume MJ, et al. Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging evaluation of knee osteoarthritis progression over 2 years and correlation with clinical symptoms and radiologic changes. Arthritis Rheum 2004; 50:476-487.
47. Berthiaume MJ, Raynauld JP, Martel-Pelletier J, et al. Meniscal tear and extrusion are strongly associated with progression of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis as assessed by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging. Ann Rheum Dis 2005; 64:556-563.
48. Raynauld JP, Martel-Pelletier J, Berthiaume MJ, et al. Long term evaluation of disease progression through the quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis patients: correlation with clinical symptoms and radiographic changes. Arthritis Res Ther 2006; 8:R21. This study has described cartilage volume loss over 12 and 24 months, respectively, and its association with symptoms, radiographic change, and risk factors of osteoarthritis in 107 patients. Medial femorotibial cartilage volume loss was -5.5±4.3% at 12 months and -8.3±6.5% at 24 months. The predictors of fast cartilage loss were the presence of severe meniscal extrusion (P=0.001), severe medial tear (P=0.005), medial or lateral bone marrow lesions (P=0.03), high BMI (P<0.05), weight (P<0.05) and age (P<0.05). No association was found between cartilage volume change and clinical outcome (WOMAC score), joint space narrowing in radiographs, or urine biomarker levels.
49. Eckstein F, Burstein D, Link TM. Quantitative MRI of cartilage and bone: degenerative changes in osteoarthritis. NMR Biomed 2006; 19:822-854. This review provides a comprehensive summary on current methodology for semiquantitative whole organ evaluation of joints, quantifying articular cartilage morphology and composition and bone changes in osteoarthritis.
50. Bruyere O, Genant H, Kothari M, et al. Longitudinal study of magnetic resonance imaging and standard X-rays to assess disease progression in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2007; 15:98-103. This study compares 1-year changes in radiographs, WORMS scores and cartilage volume in 62 osteoarthritis patients. Medial femoro-tibial joint space width decreased by 6.7±20.5%, medial cartilage volume by 0.4±16.7% and medial cartilage thickness by 2.1±11.3%. Medial femoro-tibial JSN was weekly correlated with loss of medial tibial cartilage volume (r=0.25, P<0.05), loss of medial tibial cartilage thickness (r=0.28, P<0.05) and progression of the WORMS score (r=-0.35, P<0.01). The MR sequence used for assessment of cartilage volume, however, had inferior resolution (3mm slice thickness, 0.6mm in-plane resolution) to those commonly used for quantitative cartilage imaging (1.5mm slice thickness, 0.3mm in-plane resolution).
51. Cicuttini F, Hankin J, Jones G, et al. Comparison of conventional standing knee radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging in assessing progression of tibiofemoral joint osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2005; 13:722-727.
52. Romeder F, Eckstein F, Hudelmaier M, et al. Longitudinal change or articular cartilage morphology as a function of varus and valgus malalignment in knee osteoarthritis [abstract]. Osteoarthritis Cart 2006; 14 (Suppl B):S136.
53. Zhai G, Ding C, Cicuttini F, et al. A longitudinal study of the association between knee alignment and change in cartilage volume and chondral defects in a largely nonosteoarthritic population. J Rheumatol 2007; 34:181-186.
54. Koo S, Gold GE, Andriacchi TP. Considerations in measuring cartilage thickness using MRI: factors influencing reproducibility and accuracy. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2005; 13:782-789.
55. Raynauld J-P, Pelletier JM, Berthiaume M-J, et al. The loss of cartilage volume/thickness on the weight bearing areas in knee osteoarthritis patients, assessed by quantitative MRI, is corrrelated with severity of symptoms and worsening of pain over time [abstract]. Osteoarthritis Cart 2006; 14 (Suppl B):S26.
56. Wirth W, Roth M, Kraus V, et al. Regional analysis of cartilage morphology in defined anatomical subregions of femorotibial cartilages [abstract]. Osteoarthritis Cart 2006; 14 (Suppl. B):S137.
57. Phan CM, Link TM, Blumenkrantz G, et al. MR imaging findings in the followup of patients with different stages of knee osteoarthritis and the correlation with clinical symptoms. Eur Radiol 2006; 16:608-618.
58. Hunter DJ, March L, Sambrook PN. The association of cartilage volume with knee pain. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2003; 11:725-729.
59. Wluka AE, Wolfe R, Stuckey S, et al. How does tibial cartilage volume relate to symptoms in subjects with knee osteoarthritis? Ann Rheum Dis 2004; 63:264-268.
60. Cicuttini FM, Jones G, Forbes A, et al. Rate of cartilage loss at two years predicts subsequent total knee arthroplasty: a prospective study. Ann Rheum Dis 2004; 63:1124-1127.
61. Link TM, Stahl R, Woertler K. Cartilage imaging: motivation, techniques, current and future significance. Eur Radiol 2007; 17:1135-1146.
62. Shindle MK, Foo LF, Kelly BT, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage in the athlete: current techniques and spectrum of disease. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2006; 88A (Suppl 4):27-46.
63. Gold GE, Hargreaves BA, Stevens KJ, et al. Advanced magnetic resonance imaging of articular cartilage. Orthop Clin North Am 2006; 37:331-347.
64. Kneeland JB, Reddy R. Frontiers in musculoskeletal MRI: articular cartilage. J Magn Reson Imaging 2007; 25:339-344.
65. Mosher TJ, Dardzinski BJ. Cartilage MRI T2 relaxation time mapping: overview and applications. Semin Musculoskelet Radiol 2004; 8:355-368.
66. Burstein D, Gray ML. Is MRI fulfilling its promise for molecular imaging of cartilage in arthritis? Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14:1087-1090.
67. Glaser C, Mendlik T, Dinges J, et al. Global and regional reproducibility of T2 relaxation time measurements in human patellar cartilage. Magn Reson Med 2006; 56:527-534. This was one of the first studies to evaluate the reproducibility of in-vivo cartilage T2 mapping.
68. Lusse S, Claassen H, Gehrke T, et al. Evaluation of water content by spatially resolved transverse relaxation times of human articular cartilage. Magn Reson Imaging 2000; 18:423-430.
69. Menezes NM, Gray ML, Hartke JR, et al. T2 and T1rho MRI in articular cartilage systems. Magn Reson Med 2004; 51:503-509.
70. Nieminen MT, Rieppo J, Toyras J, et al. T2 relaxation reveals spatial collagen architecture in articular cartilage: a comparative quantitative MRI and polarized light microscopic study. Magn Reson Med 2001; 46:487-493.
71. Xia Y, Moody JB, Alhadlaq H. Orientational dependence of T2 relaxation in articular cartilage: A microscopic MRI (microMRI) study. Magn Reson Med 2002; 48:460-469.
72. Grunder W. MRI assessment of cartilage ultrastructure. NMR Biomed 2006; 19:855-876.
73. Nissi MJ, Rieppo J, Toyras J, et al. T(2) relaxation time mapping reveals ageand species-related diversity of collagen network architecture in articular cartilage. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14:1265-1271. This study demonstrated sensitivity of cartilage T2 mapping to developmental changes in the cartilage collagen matrix.
74. Shinar H, Navon G. Multinuclear NMR and microscopic MRI studies of the articular cartilage nanostructure. NMR Biomed 2006; 19:877-893.
75. Goebel JC, Watrin-Pinzano A, Bettembourg-Brault I, et al. Age-related quantitative MRI changes in healthy cartilage: preliminary results. Biorheology 2006; 43:547-551.
76. Mosher TJ, Dardzinski BJ, Smith MB. Human articular cartilage: influence of aging and early symptomatic degeneration on the spatial variation of T2-preliminary findings at 3 T. Radiology 2000; 214:259-266.
77. Mosher TJ, Liu Y, Yang QX, et al. Age dependency of cartilage magnetic resonance imaging T2 relaxation times in asymptomatic women. Arthritis Rheum 2004; 50:2820-2828.
78. Dunn TC, Lu Y, Jin H, et al. T2 relaxation time of cartilage at MR imaging: comparison with severity of knee osteoarthritis. Radiology 2004; 232:592-598.
79. Li X, Benjamin MC, Link TM, et al. In vivoT(1rho) and T(2) mapping of articular cartilage in osteoarthritis of the knee using 3T MRI. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2007; Feb 15 [Epub ahead of print].
80. Li X, Han ET, Ma CB, et al. In vivo 3T spiral imaging based multislice T(1rho) mapping of knee cartilage in osteoarthritis. Magn Reson Med 2005; 54:929-936.
81. Koff MF, Amrami KK, Kaufman KR. Clinical evaluation of T2 values of patellar cartilage in patients with osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2007; 15:198-204.
82. Bashir A, Gray ML, Boutin RD, et al. Glycosaminoglycan in articular cartilage: in vivo assessment with delayed Gd(DTPA)(2-)-enhanced MR imaging. Radiology 1997; 205:551-558.
83. Burstein D, Velyvis J, Scott KT, et al. Protocol issues for delayed Gd(DTPA)(2-)-enhanced MRI (dGEMRIC) for clinical evaluation of articular cartilage. Magn Reson Med 2001; 45:36-41.
84. Tiderius C, Hori M, Williams A, et al. dGEMRIC as a function of BMI. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14:1091-1097.
85. McKenzie CA, Williams A, Prasad PV, et al. Three-dimensional delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) at 1.5T and 3.0T. J Magn Reson Imaging 2006; 24:928-933.
86. Kimelman T, Vu A, Storey P, et al. Three-dimensional T1 mapping for dGEMRIC at 3.0 T using the Look Locker method. Invest Radiol 2006; 41:198-203.
87. Boesen M, Jensen KE, Qvistgaard E, et al. Delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (dGEMRIC) of hip joint cartilage: better cartilage delineation after intra-articular than intravenous gadolinium injection. Acta Radiol 2006; 47:391-396.
88. Nojiri T, Watanabe N, Namura T, et al. Utility of delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI (dGEMRIC) for qualitative evaluation of articular cartilage of patellofemoral joint. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 2006; 14:718-723.
89. Cunningham T, Jessel R, Zurakowski D, et al. Delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage to predict early failure of Bernese periacetabular osteotomy for hip dysplasia. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2006; 88:1540-1548. This study reports on 47 patients undergoing a Bernese periacetabular osteotomy for the treatment of hip dysplasia. It shows that a low dGEMRIC score preoperatively is a strong predictor of a poor clinical outcome.
90. Lammentausta E, Kiviranta P, Nissi MJ, et al. T2 relaxation time and delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) of human patellar cartilage at 1.5 T and 9.4 T: Relationships with tissue mechanical properties. J Orthop Res 2006; 24:366-374.
91. Vasara AI, Nieminen MT, Jurvelin JS, et al. Indentation stiffness of repair tissue after autologous chondrocyte transplantation. Clin Orthop Relat Res 2005; 233-242.
92. Trattnig S, Millington SA, Szomolanyi P, et al. MR imaging of osteochondral grafts and autologous chondrocyte implantation. Eur Radiol 2007; 17:103-118.
93. Kangarlu A, Gahunia HK. Magnetic resonance imaging characterization of osteochondral defect repair in a goat model at 8 T. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2006; 14:52-62.
94. Potter HG, Foo LF. Magnetic resonance imaging of articular cartilage: trauma, degeneration, and repair. Am J Sports Med 2006; 34:661-677.
95. Kurkijarvi JE, Mattila L, Ojala RO, et al. Evaluation of cartilage repair in the distal femur after autologous chondrocyte transplantation using T2 relaxation time and dGEMRIC. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2007; 15:372-378. This was one of the first studies comparing biomechanical properties of cartilage repair tissue following autologous chondrocyte implantation with dGEMRIC scores and T2 mapping. Combining these two quantitative magnetic resonance imaging techniques enables a more comprehensive characterization of cartilage repair than using dGEMRIC values alone [91].
96. White LM, Sussman MS, Hurtig M, et al. Cartilage T2 assessment: differentiation of normal hyaline cartilage and reparative tissue after arthroscopic cartilage repair in equine subjects. Radiology 2006; 241:407-414. In this study, cartilage T2 mapping was performed on10 equines knees that had undergone osteochondral autograft transplantation (OAT) and microfracture arthroplasty (MFx) 12-24 months prior to the MRI. The spatial distribution of cartilage T2 and subjective assessment of cartilage T2 spatial distribution was compared with histologic results and collagen organization assessed at polarized light microscopy. A normal spatial variation in cartilage T2 was correlated with hyaline cartilage in OAT graft sites, while heterogeneously elevated T2 was observed in microfracture and OAT harvest sites demonstrating fibrous repair tissue. The study is important because it provides evidence that T2 mapping is sensitive to repair tissue histology and may have the potential to differentiate hyaline from fibrocartilage repair tissue.
97. Borthakur A, Mellon E, Niyogi S, et al. Sodium and T1rho MRI for molecular and diagnostic imaging of articular cartilage. NMR Biomed 2006; 19:781-821.
98. Pakin SK, Xu J, Schweitzer ME, et al. Rapid 3D-T1rho mapping of the knee joint at 3.0T with parallel imaging. Magn Reson Med 2006; 56:563-571. This technical paper describes modifications of a 3D gradient echo T1rho mapping technique at 3T that leads to decreased acquisition time and lower specific absorption rate.
99. Pakin SK, Schweitzer ME, Regatte RR. 3D-T1rho quantitation of patellar cartilage at 3.0T. J Magn Reson Imaging 2006; 24:1357-1363.
100. Regatte RR, Akella SV, Lonner JH, et al. T1rho relaxation mapping in human osteoarthritis (OA) cartilage: comparison of T1rho with T2. J Magn Reson Imaging 2006; 23:547-553. This is an interesting preliminary study of osteochondral tissue samples from eight subjects undergoing total knee replacement and reports elevated T2 and T1rho values in osteoarthritic cartilage compared to healthy tissue. Compared to T2, T1rho demonstrated a larger dynamic range suggesting it may be more responsive than T2 to cartilage degradation.