Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

T2 distribution profiles are a good way to show cartilage regional variabilities and cartilage insufficiency

  • Technical Report
  • Published:
Skeletal Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

A Correction to this article was published on 27 December 2019

This article has been updated

Abstract

Objective

To use T2 relaxation time distribution profiles to assess inter-group regional differences along articular surfaces and to evaluate the feasibility of this analysis for comparison of cartilage insufficiency.

Materials and methods

Twelve pairs matched according to age and gender (12 healthy volunteers and 12 patients after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR)) underwent 3-T MRI. T2 maps were calculated from six time echo images of the mid-sagittal slice in the lateral and medial compartment. The femoral and tibial cartilage was analyzed by measuring T2 distribution profiles along the articular surfaces.

Results

T2 distribution profiles were generated along the length of the articular surface in the femorotibial compartments. Differences in the T2 distribution profiles between the tibial and femoral cartilage as well as between the cartilage of the femoral condyles were identified in healthy individuals. T2 distribution profiles clearly demonstrated cartilage insufficiency in the weight-bearing areas for subjects in the ACLR group.

Conclusions

T2 distribution profiles can identify regional differences in femoral and tibial cartilage. The T2 distribution profile pattern is preserved with cartilage insufficiency, however, with important differences in T2 values for the ACLR group in weight-bearing areas.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

  • 27 December 2019

    Unfortunately in Volume 49, Issue 1 had been published online with an incorrect date (2001 instead of 2020).

References

  1. Kaneko Y, Nozaki T, Yu H, Chang A, et al. Normal T2 map profile of the entire femoral cartilage using an angle/layer-dependent approach. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2015;42:1507–16.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Plut D, Faganel Kotnik B, Preložnik Zupan I, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of haemophilia early arthropathy detection with ultrasound (HEAD-US): a comparative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. Radiol Oncol. 2019. https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2019-0027.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Kim T, Min BH, Yoon SH, et al. An in vitro comparative study of T2 and T2* mappings of human articular cartilage at 3-Tesla MRI using histology as the standard of reference. Skelet Radiol. 2014;43:947–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Nieminen MT, Rieppo J, Toyras J, et al. T2 relaxation reveals spatial collagen architecture in articular cartilage: a comparative quantitative MRI and polarized light microscopic study. Magn Reson Med. 2001;46:487–93.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Li X, Benjamin Ma C, Link TM, et al. In vivo T(1rho) and T(2) mapping of articular cartilage in osteoarthritis of the knee using 3 T MRI. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2007;15:789–97.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Williams A, Winalski CS, Chu CR. Early articular cartilage MRI T2 changes after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction correlate with later changes in T2 and cartilage thickness. J Orthop Res. 2017;35(3):699–706.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Surowiec RK, Lucas EP, Fitzcharles EK, et al. T2 values of articular cartilage in clinically relevant subregions of the asymptomatic knee. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2014;22:1404–14.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Snoj Z, Zupanc O, Salapura V. Effect of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction technique on graft signal intensity at midterm follow up. Iran J Radiol. 2018;15(1):e14060. https://doi.org/10.5812/iranjradiol.14060.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Snoj Ž, Zupanc O, Stražar K, et al. A descriptive study of potential effect of anterior tibial translation, femoral tunnel and anterior cruciate ligament graft inclination on clinical outcome and degenerative changes. Int Orthop. 2017;41:789–96.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Peterfy CG, Guermazi A. Zaim S et. al. Whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging score (WORMS) of the knee in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2004;12:177–90.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Theologis AA, Haughom B, Liang F, et al. Comparison of T1rho relaxation times between ACL-reconstructed knees and contralateral uninjured knees. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2014;22:298–307.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Li H, Chen S, Tao H, Chen S. Quantitative MRI T2 relaxation time evaluation of knee cartilage: comparison of meniscus-intact and -injured knees after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Am J Sports Med. 2015;43(4):865–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Snoj Ž, Zupanc O, Salapura V. Retrospective quantitative cartilage and semi-quantitative morphological evaluation at 6 years after ACL reconstruction. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2016;136:967–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Bae JH, Hosseini A, Wang Y, et al. Articular cartilage of the knee 3 years after ACL reconstruction. A quantitative T2 relaxometry analysis of 10 knees. Acta Orthop. 2015;86:605–10.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Su F, Hilton JF, Nardo L, et al. Cartilage morphology and T1rho and T2 quantification in ACL-reconstructed knees: a 2-year follow-up. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2013;21:1058–67.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Potter HG, Jain SK, Ma Y. Black BR et. al.. Cartilage injury after acute, isolated anterior cruciate ligament tear: immediate and longitudinal effect with clinical/MRI follow-up. Am J Sports Med. 2012;40:276–85.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Li X, Kuo D, Theologis A, et al. Cartilage in anterior cruciate ligament-reconstructed knees: MR imaging T1{rho} and T2--initial experience with 1-year follow-up. Radiology. 2011;258:505–14.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Zhong Q, Pedoia V, Tanaka M, et al. 3D bone-shape changes and their correlations with cartilage T1ρ and T2 relaxation times and patient-reported outcomes over 3-years after ACL reconstruction. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joca.2019.01.017.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Mueske NM, Patel AR, Pace JL. Improvements in landing biomechanics following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in adolescent athletes. Sports Biomech. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2018.1510539.

  20. Bittersohl B, Miese FR, Hosalkar HS, et al. T2* mapping of hip joint cartilage in various histological grades of degeneration. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2012;20(7):653–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Bittersohl B, Hosalkar HS, Miese FR, et al. Zonal T2* and T1Gd assessment of knee joint cartilage in various histological grades of cartilage degeneration: an observational in vitro study. BMJ Open. 2015;5(2):e006895. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006895.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Bittersohl B, Hosalkar HS, Hughes T, Kim YJ, Werlen S, Siebenrock KA, et al. Feasibility of T2* mapping for the evaluation of hip joint cartilage at 1.5T using a three-dimensional(3D), gradient-echo (GRE) sequence: a prospective study. Magn Reson Med. 2009;62(4):896–901. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrm.22096.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Wirth W, Maschek S, Roemer FW, Eckstein F. Layer-specific femorotibial cartilage T2 relaxation time in knees with and without early knee osteoarthritis: data from the osteoarthritis initiative (OAI). Sci Rep. 2016;6:34202.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Jungmann PM, Kraus MS, Nardo L, et al. T(2) relaxation time measurements are limited in monitoring progression, once advanced cartilage defects at the knee occur: longitudinal data from the osteoarthritis initiative. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2013;38(6):1415–24. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.24137.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Williams AA, Qian Y, West RV, Fu FH, Chu CR. Clinical Ultrashort TE-Enhanced T2* Mapping of Knee Cartilage at 3T. Poster No. 1445, ORS 2012 Annual Meeting.

  26. Hovis KK, Alizai H, Tham SC, et al. Non-traumatic anterior cruciate ligament abnormalities and their relationship to osteoarthritis using morphological grading and cartilage T2 relaxation times: data from the osteoarthritis initiative (OAI). Skelet Radiol. 2012;41(11):1435–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Juras V, Schreiner M, Laurent D, et al. The comparison of the performance of 3 T and 7 T T2 mapping for untreated low-grade cartilage lesions. Magn Reson Imaging. 2019;55:86–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Stahl R, Blumenkrantz G, Carballido-Gamio J, et al. MRI-derived T2 relaxation times and cartilage morphometry of the tibio-femoral joint in subjects with and without osteoarthritis during a 1-year follow-up. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2007;15:1225–34.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Guermazi A, Alizai H, Crema MD, Trattnig S, Regatte RR, Roemer FW. Compositional MRI techniques for evaluation of cartilage degeneration in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2015;23(10):1639–53.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Goodwin DW, Wadghiri YZ, Zhu H, et al. Macroscopic structure of articular cartilage of the tibial plateau: influence of a characteristic matrix architecture on MRI appearance. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2004;182:311–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Zhu J, Hu N, Liang X et al. T2 mapping of cartilage and menisci at 3T in healthy subjects with knee malalignment: initial experience. Skeletal Radiol. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-019-3164-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Slauterbeck JR, Kousa P, Clifton BC, et al. Geographic mapping of meniscus and cartilage lesions associated with anterior cruciate ligament injuries. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2009;91:2094–103.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Radiology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Zaloška 7, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Ž. Snoj, J. Vidmar, M. Gergar, D. Plut & V. Salapura

  2. Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    J. Vidmar

Authors
  1. Ž. Snoj
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Vidmar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Gergar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. Plut
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. V. Salapura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ž. Snoj.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Snoj, Ž., Vidmar, J., Gergar, M. et al. T2 distribution profiles are a good way to show cartilage regional variabilities and cartilage insufficiency. Skeletal Radiol 49, 137–145 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-019-03256-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-019-03256-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation