T1ρ magnetic resonance imaging for quantitative assessment of patella cartilage in healthy subjects and athletes

Abstract

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of major reasons to causes pain and limit mobility for aging people. Early diagnosis of articular cartilage degeneration is of utmost importance for the prevention of OA. Thus, it is necessary to develop a novel magnetic resonance imaging technique to detect the early articular cartilage degeneration. Methods. T1ρ and T2-weighted images of the knees were obtained for 50 asymptomatic young subjects (23 men and 27 women; average age, 23.9 ± 1.8 years) and 17 Chinese National Men's hockey players (average age, 20.7 ± 1.1 years), using a 3.0-T MRI scanner. Quantitative T1ρ relaxation maps of the bilateral patella cartilage were generated by post-processing, and each map was divided into 15 regions of interest (ROIs). T1ρ values of each ROI were measured and compared between asymptomatic subjects and athletes. Results. T1ρ values of left patellar cartilage in athletes were significantly higher than those in healthy subjects (P < 0.05). T1ρ values of right patellar cartilage in athletes were also higher than healthy controls (P < 0.05). T1ρ values of patellar cartilage in both athletes and healthy subjects uncovered no apparent difference between the left knees and right knees (P > 0.05). Conclusion. T1ρ MRI could potentially represent a useful tool for the measurement of early articular cartilage degeneration in clinical practice.