The preliminary application of magnetic resonance arthrography in the diagnosis of acetabular labral tears

Abstract

Objective To investigate the application value of MR rthrography (MRA) in the diagnosis of acetabular labral tears. Methods Fifteen patients with a high degree of suspected acetabular labral tears received fluoroscope-guided injection of the contrast media into the hip joint ( hip arthrography) and fat-saturated spin-echo T1-weighted images were obtained in the coronal, sagittal, oblique-axial and radial planes. Hip arthroscopy was performed on 12 of them. Results Labral tears which were diagnosed in 11 patients by hip MRA were confirmed at hip arthroscopy. One patient showed no MRA indication of labraltear, also showed normal on arthroscopy. Tear in the anterior-superior quadrant 10 cases of 12 joints( 12/13), posterior-superior quadrant 1 case of a joint (1/13). In 11 patients who underwent arthroscopy,hip MRA diagnosed 3 (3/13) joints labral tears in coronal planes, 10 (10/13) joints in sagittal planes and13 (13/13) labral tears in axial-oblique and radial planes. In 15 patients with 20 hip joints, 5 cases 6 joints(6/20) with normal acetabular sublabral sulcus were performed. Conclusions MR arthrography of hip is areliable method in the diagnosis of acetabular labral tears. Scanning method should be included fat-saturatedspin-echo T1-weighted images in sagittal and oblique-axial planes or sagittal plus radial planes. The diagnosisof tor posterior-inferior quadrant should pay attention to the existence of a normal variation. Key words: Acetabulum; Hip injuries; Magnetic resonance imaging; Arthrography