Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of cartilage in osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee with or without surgical treatment using 3-T delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance image of cartilage (dGEMRIC) and T2 mapping.
Methods: This study included two groups: patients with primary medial OA of the knee (OA group: 10 men, 10 women; mean age, 56 years old) and OA patients after high tibial osteotomy and drilling of the medial femur sides (HTO group: 1 man, 2 women; mean age, 58 years old). In the OA group, cartilage of the femorotibial (FT) joint classified by Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade was analyzed using dGEMRIC and T2 mapping. In the HTO group, cartilage of the FT joint was evaluated.
Results: In the OA group, dGEMRIC on all sides of KL I joints revealed significantly increased cartilage compared to KL II joints. T2 mapping of the lateral femur and lateral tibial sides of KL I joints showed significantly decreased cartilage compared to KL III joints. In the HTO group, dGEMRIC of the medial femur side showed transient increases 2 and 7 years after HTO; however, the T1 value had decreased 10 years after surgery. In contrast, T2 mapping yielded the opposite results.
Conclusion: The evaluation of cartilage in OA knees using dGEMRIC and T2 mapping is useful for identifying early-stage OA (grade I) and determining the efficacy of various OA treatments.
