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Association between quantitative MRI and ICRS arthroscopic grading of articular cartilage

  • Experimental Study
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the association of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) parameters with arthroscopic grading of cartilage degeneration. Arthroscopy of the knee is considered to be the gold standard of osteoarthritis diagnostics; however, it is operator-dependent and limited to the evaluation of the articular surface. qMRI provides information on the quality of articular cartilage and its changes even at early stages of a disease.

Methods

qMRI techniques included T 1 relaxation time, T 2 relaxation time, and delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage mapping at 3 T in ten patients. Due to a lack of generally accepted semiquantitative scoring systems for evaluating severity of cartilage degeneration during arthroscopy, the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) classification system was used to grade the severity of cartilage lesions. qMRI parameters were statistically compared to arthroscopic grading conducted with the ICRS classification system.

Results

qMRI parameters were not linearly related to arthroscopic grading. Spearman’s correlation coefficients between qMRI and arthroscopic grading were not significant. The relative differences in qMRI parameters of superficial and deep cartilage varied with degeneration, suggesting different macromolecular alterations in different cartilage zones.

Conclusions

Results suggest that loss of cartilage and the quality of remaining tissue in the lesion site may not be directly associated with each other. The severity of cartilage degeneration may not be revealed solely by diagnostic arthroscopy, and thus, qMRI can have a role in the investigation of cartilage degeneration.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the grant from the Academy of Finland (Grant 260321) and the strategic funding from the University of Oulu.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, University of Oulu, POB 50, 90029, Oulu, Finland

    Victor Casula, Risto Ojala & Miika T. Nieminen

  2. Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Victor Casula, Jukka Hirvasniemi, Petri Lehenkari, Simo Saarakkala, Eveliina Lammentausta & Miika T. Nieminen

  3. Department of Medical Technology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Jukka Hirvasniemi & Simo Saarakkala

  4. Department of Anatomy, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Petri Lehenkari

  5. Department of Surgery, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

    Petri Lehenkari

  6. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

    Marianne Haapea, Simo Saarakkala, Eveliina Lammentausta & Miika T. Nieminen

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  1. Victor Casula
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Correspondence to Victor Casula.

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Casula, V., Hirvasniemi, J., Lehenkari, P. et al. Association between quantitative MRI and ICRS arthroscopic grading of articular cartilage. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 24, 2046–2054 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-014-3286-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-014-3286-9

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