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Reproducibility of 3D delayed gadolinium enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) of the knee at 3.0 T in patients with early stage osteoarthritis

  • Musculoskeletal
  • Published:
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Abstract

Objectives

To assess the reproducibility of 3D delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) at 3 T in early stage knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients.

Methods

In 20 patients, 3D dGEMRIC at 3 T was acquired twice within 7 days. To correct for patient motion during acquisition, all images were rigidly registered in 3D. Eight anatomical cartilage ROIs were analysed on both images of each patient. Capability of dGEMRIC to yield T1 maps that reproducibly distinguish spatial differences in cartilage quality was assessed in two ROIs within a single slice in each patient. Reproducibility was assessed using ICCs and Bland-Altman plots.

Results

ICCs ranged from 0.87 to 0.95, indicating good reproducibility. T1 maps revealed reproducible spatial differences in cartilage quality (ICC 0.79). Based on the Bland-Altman plots, we defined a threshold of 95 ms to determine if a change in dGEMRIC outcome in longitudinal research was statistically significant.

Conclusions

3D knee dGEMRIC at 3 T combined with 3D image registration is a highly reproducible measure of cartilage quality in early stage OA. Therefore, dGEMRIC may be a valuable tool in the non-invasive evaluation of cartilage quality changes in longitudinal research in patients with early stage OA and focal cartilage defects.

Key Points

• Delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC) can assess osteoarthritis

• dGEMRIC yields highly reproducible T1 values in early stage osteoarthritic patients

• A threshold was established to determine significant changes in dGEMRIC outcomes

• dGEMRIC can be used to evaluate cartilage quality in longitudinal research

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Abbreviations

ACLT:

Anterior cruciate ligament tear

dGEMRIC:

Delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage

ICC:

Intraclass correlation coefficient

OA:

Osteoarthritis

pFC:

Posterior non-weight-bearing cartilage of the femoral condyle

ROIs:

Regions of interest

sGAG:

Sulphated glycosaminoglycan

TI:

Inversion time

wbFCa:

Anterior weight-bearing cartilage of the femoral condyle

wbFCp:

Posterior weight-bearing cartilage of the femoral condyle

wbTP:

Weight-bearing cartilage of the tibial plateau

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Acknowledgments

Prof. G.P. Krestin is a consultant to GE and has a collaboration contract with them

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    J. van Tiel, E. E. Bron, S. Klein, G. P. Krestin, G. Kotek & E. H. G. Oei

  2. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    J. van Tiel, P. K. Bos, M. Reijman, J. A. N. Verhaar & H. Weinans

  3. Departments of Medical Informatics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    E. E. Bron & S. Klein

  4. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Skane University Hospital, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    C. J. Tiderius

  5. Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    H. Weinans

  6. Department of Radiology and Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    J. van Tiel

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  1. J. van Tiel
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Correspondence to J. van Tiel.

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van Tiel, J., Bron, E.E., Tiderius, C.J. et al. Reproducibility of 3D delayed gadolinium enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) of the knee at 3.0 T in patients with early stage osteoarthritis. Eur Radiol 23, 496–504 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-012-2616-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-012-2616-x

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