MRI evaluation of articular cartilage in patients with juvenile osteochondritis dissecans (JOCD) using T2∗ mapping at 3T

Abstract

Evaluate articular cartilage by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2∗ mapping within the distal femur and proximal tibia in adolescents with juvenile osteochondritis dissecans (JOCD). JOCD imaging studies acquired between August 2011 and February 2019 with clinical and T2∗ mapping MRI knee images were retrospectively collected and analyzed for 31 participants (9F/22M, 15.0±3.8 years old) with JOCD lesions in the medial femoral condyle (MFC). In total, N=32 knees with JOCD lesions and N=14 control knees were assessed. Mean T2∗ values in four articular cartilage regions-of-interest (MFC, lateral femoral condyle (LFC), medial tibia (MT), and lateral tibia (LT)) and lesion volume were measured and analyzed using Wilcoxon-rank-sum tests and Spearman correlation coefficients (R). Mean±standard error T2∗ differences observed between the lesion-sided MFC and the LFC in JOCD-affected knees (28.5±0.9 95% confidence interval [26.8, 30.3] vs 26.3±0.7 [24.8, 27.7] ms, P=0.088) and between the affected- and control-knee MFC (28.5±0.9 [26.8, 30.3] vs 28.5±0.6 [27.1, 29.9] ms, P=0.719) were nonsignificant. T2∗ was significantly increased in the lesion-sided MT vs the LT for the JOCD-affected knees (21.5±0.7 [20.1, 22.9] vs 18.0±0.7 [16.5, 19.5] ms, P=0.002), but this same difference was also observed between the MT and LT in control knees (21.0±0.6 [19.7, 22.3] vs 18.1±1.1 [15.8, 20.4] ms, P=0.037). There was no significant T2∗ difference between the affected- and control-knee MT (21.5±0.7 [20.1, 22.9] vs 21.0±0.6 [19.7, 22.3] ms, P=0.905). T2∗ within the lesion-sided MFC was not correlated with patient age (R=0.20, P=0.28) or lesion volume (R=0.06, P=0.75). T2∗ values were slightly increased near lesions in later-stage JOCD subjects but without statistical significance. T2∗ relaxations times were not significantly different from control sites in the articular cartilage overlying JOCD lesions in the MFC or adjacent MT cartilage in early-stage JOCD.