Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spectrum of T2* values in knee joint cartilage at 3 T: a cross-sectional analysis in asymptomatic young adult volunteers

  • Scientific Article
  • Published:
Skeletal Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To establish baseline T2* values in healthy knee joint cartilage at 3 T.

Materials and Methods

Thirty-four volunteers (mean age: 24.6 ± 2.7 years) with no history or clinical findings indicative of any knee joint disease were enrolled. The protocol included a double-echo steady-state (DESS) sequence for morphological cartilage evaluation and a gradient-echo multi-echo sequence for T2* assessment. Bulk and zonal T2* values were assessed in eight regions: posterior lateral femoral condyle; central lateral femoral condyle; trochlea; patella; lateral tibial plateau; posterior medial femoral condyle; central medial femoral condyle; and medial tibial plateau. Statistical evaluation comprised a two-tailed t test and a one-way analysis of variance to identify zonal and regional differences.

Results

T2* mapping revealed higher T2* values in the superficial zone in all regions (P values ≤ 0.001) except for the posterior medial femur condyle (P = 0.087), and substantial regional differences demonstrating superior values in trochlear cartilage, intermediate values in patellar and central femoral condylar cartilage, and low T2* values in posterior femoral condylar cartilage and tibial plateau cartilage.

Conclusion

Substantial regional differences in T2* measures should be taken into consideration when conducting T2* mapping of knee joint cartilage.

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
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Altman RD. The syndrome of osteoarthritis. J Rheumatol. 1997;24(4):766–7.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Burstein D, Gray M, Mosher T, Dardzinski B. Measures of molecular composition and structure in osteoarthritis. Radiol Clin N Am. 2009;47(4):675–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Crema MD, Roemer FW, Marra MD, Burstein D, Gold GE, Eckstein F, et al. Articular cartilage in the knee: current MR imaging techniques and applications in clinical practice and research. Radiographics 2011;31(1):37–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Mosher TJ, Dardzinski BJ. Cartilage MRI T2 relaxation time mapping: overview and applications. Semin Musculoskelet Radiol. 2004;8(4):355–68.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Mamisch TC, Hughes T, Mosher TJ, Mueller C, Trattnig S, Boesch C, et al. T2 star relaxation times for assessment of articular cartilage at 3 T: a feasibility study. Skeletal Radiol. 2012;41(3):287–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Welsch GH, Mamisch TC, Hughes T, Zilkens C, Quirbach S, Scheffler K, et al. In vivo biochemical 7.0 Tesla magnetic resonance: preliminary results of dGEMRIC, zonal T2, and T2* mapping of articular cartilage. Invest Radiol. 2008;43(9):619–26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Welsch GH, Trattnig S, Hughes T, Quirbach S, Olk A, Blanke M, et al. T2 and T2* mapping in patients after matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation: initial results on clinical use with 3.0-Tesla MRI. Eur Radiol. 2010;20(6):1515–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. 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 1.5 T using a three-dimensional (3D), gradient-echo (GRE) sequence: a prospective study. Magnetic resonance in medicine : official journal of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine/Society of. Magn Reson Med. 2009;62(4):896–901.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bittersohl B, Miese FR, Dekkers C, Senyurt H, Kircher J, Wittsack HJ, et al. T2* mapping and delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in cartilage (dGEMRIC) of glenohumeral cartilage in asymptomatic volunteers at 3 T. Eur Radiol. 2013;23(5):1367–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Bittersohl B, Miese FR, Hosalkar HS, Herten M, Antoch G, Krauspe R, et al. T2* mapping of hip joint cartilage in various histological grades of degeneration. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2012;20(7):653–60.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Bittersohl B, Miese FR, Hosalkar HS, Mamisch TC, Antoch G, Krauspe R, et al. T2* mapping of acetabular and femoral hip joint cartilage at 3 T: a prospective controlled study. Invest Radiol. 2012;47(7):392–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Buchbender C, Scherer A, Kropil P, Korbl B, Quentin M, Reichelt D, et al. Cartilage quality in rheumatoid arthritis: comparison of T2* mapping, native T1 mapping, dGEMRIC, DeltaR1 and value of pre-contrast imaging. Skelet Radiol. 2012;41(6):685–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Marik W, Apprich S, Welsch GH, Mamisch TC, Trattnig S. Biochemical evaluation of articular cartilage in patients with osteochondrosis dissecans by means of quantitative T2- and T2-mapping at 3 T MRI: a feasibility study. Eur J Radiol. 2012;81(5):923–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Miese FR, Zilkens C, Holstein A, Bittersohl B, Kropil P, Mamisch TC, et al. Assessment of early cartilage degeneration after slipped capital femoral epiphysis using T2 and T2* mapping. Acta Radiol. 2011;52(1):106–10.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Newbould RD, Miller SR, Toms LD, Swann P, Tielbeek JA, Gold GE, et al. T2* measurement of the knee articular cartilage in osteoarthritis at 3 T. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2012;35(6):1422–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Pai A, Li X, Majumdar S. A comparative study at 3 T of sequence dependence of T2 quantitation in the knee. Magn Reson Imaging. 2008;26(9):1215–20.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Williams A, Qian Y, Chu CR. UTE-T2 * mapping of human articular cartilage in vivo: a repeatability assessment. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2011;19(1):84–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Mosher TJ, Dardzinski BJ, Smith MB. Human articular cartilage: influence of aging and early symptomatic degeneration on the spatial variation of T2–preliminary findings at 3 T. Radiology. 2000;214(1):259–66.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Waterton JC, Solloway S, Foster JE, Keen MC, Gandy S, Middleton BJ, et al. Diurnal variation in the femoral articular cartilage of the knee in young adult humans. Magn Reson Med. 2000;43(1):126–32.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Liess C, Lusse S, Karger N, Heller M, Gluer CC. Detection of changes in cartilage water content using MRI T2-mapping in vivo. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2002;10(12):907–13.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Crema MD, Roemer FW, Marra MD, Guermazi A. Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of subchondral bone and soft tissues in knee osteoarthritis. Rheum Dis Clin N Am. 2009;35(3):557–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Peterfy CG, Schneider E, Nevitt M. The osteoarthritis initiative: report on the design rationale for the magnetic resonance imaging protocol for the knee. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2008;16(12):1433–41.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Stehling C, Lane NE, Nevitt MC, Lynch J, McCulloch CE, Link TM. Subjects with higher physical activity levels have more severe focal knee lesions diagnosed with 3 T MRI: analysis of a non-symptomatic cohort of the osteoarthritis initiative. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2010;18(6):776–86.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Stehling C, Liebl H, Krug R, Lane NE, Nevitt MC, Lynch J, et al. Patellar cartilage: T2 values and morphologic abnormalities at 3.0-T MR imaging in relation to physical activity in asymptomatic subjects from the osteoarthritis initiative. Radiology. 2010;254(2):509–20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Kellgren JH, Lawrence JS. Radiological assessment of osteo-arthrosis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1957;16(4):494–502.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Rubenstein JD, Kim JK, Henkelman RM. Effects of compression and recovery on bovine articular cartilage: appearance on MR images. Radiology. 1996;201(3):843–50.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Xia Y. Magic-angle effect in magnetic resonance imaging of articular cartilage: a review. Invest Radiol. 2000;35(10):602–21.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Clark JM. Variation of collagen fiber alignment in a joint surface: a scanning electron microscope study of the tibial plateau in dog, rabbit, and man. J Orthop Res. 1991;9(2):246–57.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Goodwin DW, Wadghiri YZ, Zhu H, Vinton CJ, Smith ED, Dunn JF. Macroscopic structure of articular cartilage of the tibial plateau: influence of a characteristic matrix architecture on MRI appearance. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2004;182(2):311–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Shiomi T, Nishii T, Nakata K, Tamura S, Tanaka H, Yamazaki Y, et al. Three-dimensional topographical variation of femoral cartilage T2 in healthy volunteer knees. Skelet Radiol. 2013;42(3):363–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by a research grant from the “German Research Foundation” (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). The authors have full control of all primary data.

Conflict of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Faculty, Department of Orthopaedics, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Bernd Bittersohl, Malte Sondern, Rüdiger Krauspe & Christoph Zilkens

  2. Center of Hip Preservation and Children’s Orthopaedics, San Diego, CA, USA

    Harish S. Hosalkar

  3. Medical Faculty, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Falk R. Miese & Gerald Antoch

  4. Medical School, Department of Orthopaedics, Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf Moorenstrasse 5, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Bernd Bittersohl

Authors
  1. Bernd Bittersohl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Harish S. Hosalkar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Malte Sondern
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Falk R. Miese
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gerald Antoch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rüdiger Krauspe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Christoph Zilkens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernd Bittersohl.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bittersohl, B., Hosalkar, H.S., Sondern, M. et al. Spectrum of T2* values in knee joint cartilage at 3 T: a cross-sectional analysis in asymptomatic young adult volunteers. Skeletal Radiol 43, 443–452 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-013-1806-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-013-1806-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation