1. Delayed Gadolinium-Enhanced MR Imaging of Cartilage (dGEMRIC) following ACL injury.
- Author
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Fleming BC, Oksendahl HL, Mehan WA, Portnoy R, Fadale PD, Hulstyn MJ, Bowers ME, Machan JT, and Tung GA
- Subjects
- Adult, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Male, Middle Aged, Young Adult, Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries, Cartilage, Articular pathology, Contrast Media, Gadolinium DTPA, Knee Joint pathology, Magnetic Resonance Imaging methods
- Abstract
Objective: Early detection of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) loss may provide insight into mechanisms of cartilage damage in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-injured patient. We hypothesized that tibial and femoral Delayed Gadolinium-Enhanced MR Imaging of Cartilage (dGEMRIC) indices would be lower in the medial compartment of the ACL-injured knee than in the contralateral, uninjured knee, and that scan order (i.e., whether the injured or the uninjured knee was imaged first) would not affect the indices., Methods: 15 subjects with unilateral ACL injuries received a double dose of gadolinium [Gd(DTPA)(2-)] intravenously. After 90 min, both knees were sequentially imaged. The injured knee was scanned first in the odd-numbered subjects and second in the even-numbered subjects. The dGEMRIC indices of the median slice of the medial compartment were determined using the MRIMapper software. Index comparisons were made between knee status (ACL-injured vs uninjured), scan order (ACL-injured first vs uninjured first), and cartilage location (tibia vs femur) using a mixed model., Results: There was a significant difference in the mean dGEMRIC indices of the medial compartment between injured and uninjured knees (P<0.007). On average, there was a 13% decrease in the dGEMRIC index of the injured knee compared to the uninjured knee. There were no significant effects due to test order (P=0.800) or cartilage location (P=0.439)., Conclusions: The results demonstrate lower GAG concentrations in the medial compartment of the femoral and tibial articular cartilage of the ACL-injured knee when compared to the contralateral uninjured knee. The dGEMRIC indices were not sensitive to scan order; thus, sequential imaging of both knees is possible in this patient population., (Copyright 2010 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2010
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