Assessing patterns of T2/T1rho change in grade 1 cartilage lesions of the distal femur using an angle/layer dependent approach.

PURPOSE: To assess changes in the patterns of T2 and T1rho values within grade 1 cartilage lesions of osteoarthritis (OA) patients compared to healthy controls.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty healthy knees and 25 OA knees were examined on a 3 T scanner. Areas of signal heterogeneity within the cartilage of the distal femur were identified using fat suppressed proton density-weighted imagines. T2 and T1rho values in each OA patient with grade 1 lesions were compared to average T2 and T1rho values of the corresponding areas in healthy subjects.

RESULTS: A total of 28 areas including grade 1 lesion were identified. Compared to normal cartilage, the majority of grade 1 cartilage lesions demonstrated either no significant change or a statistically significant increase in both T2 values (18/28, 64%) and T1rho values (23/28, 82%). Compared to T2, T1rho demonstrated a greater proportion of statistically significantly higher values in OA patients than those from the normal controls. However, T2 and T1rho values in grade 1 lesions can be decreased, or demonstrate mixed patterns compared to those in healthy cartilage.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that early degenerative cartilage lesions can demonstrate various patterns of T2 and T1rho changes.