Advanced compositional imaging T2 mapping sequence in detection of stages of medial knee joint compartments articular cartilage degeneration

Abstract

Abstract Background The predictive value of the new imaging sequences, especially T2 mapping in assessment of articular cartilage abnormalities of the medial knee compartments in patients with medial knee pain. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the additional value of T2 mapping over using a baseline standard knee MRI to detect cartilage lesions of the medial compartments in patients representing with medial knee pain. Results The study included 60 patients presented with medial knee pain, where divided into two groups ; control group (20 volunteers) with age range from 19 to 41 years old 26.80 ± 8.05 (mean ± SD) and patients (40 candidates) with age range from 13 to 57 years old with a mean age 33.00 ± 14.1 (mean ± SD). Conclusion On adding T2 mapping sequence to the routine MRI of the knee, the sensitivity for detecting knee cartilage lesions was increased, especially in the detection of early cartilage degeneration at the medial compartment. Compositional MR imaging including T2 mapping plays an important role in the assessment of early and potentially reversible cartilage damage especially among the young population.