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. 2012 Feb;35(2):370-8.
doi: 10.1002/jmri.22834. Epub 2011 Oct 10.

Changes in knee cartilage T2 values over 24 months in subjects with and without risk factors for knee osteoarthritis and their association with focal knee lesions at baseline: data from the osteoarthritis initiative

Thomas Baum  1 , Christoph Stehling, Gabby B Joseph, Julio Carballido-Gamio, Benedikt J Schwaiger, Christina Müller-Höcker, Michael C Nevitt, John Lynch, Charles E McCulloch, Thomas M Link
Affiliations

Changes in knee cartilage T2 values over 24 months in subjects with and without risk factors for knee osteoarthritis and their association with focal knee lesions at baseline: data from the osteoarthritis initiative

Thomas Baum et al. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2012 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the changes in knee cartilage T2 values over 24 months in subjects with and without risk factors for knee osteoarthritis (OA) and their association with focal knee lesions at baseline.

Materials and methods: Forty-one subjects without and 101 subjects with OA risk factors (such as history of knee injury or surgery) were selected from the Osteoarthritis Initiative database (age: 45-55 years, no radiographic OA in the right knee). Baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the right knee were assessed for prevalence and grade of focal knee lesions. Right knee cartilage T2 measurements were performed in five compartments (patella, medial/lateral femur/tibia) at baseline and at 24-month follow-up.

Results: Compared to subjects without OA risk factors, those with OA risk factors showed no significant differences in baseline prevalence and grade of focal knee lesions (P > .05), but had significantly higher T2 values in the medial femur compartment at both timepoints (P < 0.05). T2 values averaged over all five compartments increased significantly over 24 months in both groups, but differences in T2 increase between the groups were not significant. Subjects with cartilage lesions showed significantly higher T2 values compared to subjects without cartilage lesions at both timepoints, but no accelerated T2 increase over 24 months (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: Cartilage T2 values significantly increased over 24 months in subjects with and without OA risk factors, but neither the presence of OA risk factors nor the presence of cartilage lesions at baseline were associated with these T2 increases.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The box plots show T2 values averaged over all five compartments for (A) the superficial cartilage layer, (B) the deep cartilage layer, and (C) the whole cartilage at baseline and 24 month follow-up. Subjects were stratified by prevalence of cartilage lesion at baseline. Elevated T2 values were observed in subjects with cartilage lesion, compared to subjects without cartilage lesion (p<0.05). The p-values are adjusted for age, gender, BMI, baseline KL-score and subcohort.
Figure 2
Figure 2
T2 color maps of the medial femur and medial tibia compartments of the right knee overlaid with the first-echo images of MSME sequence. (A) Representative subject without cartilage lesion and (B) representative subject with cartilage lesion. Blue color indicates low, red color high cartilage T2 values. High cartilage T2 values are associated with increased water content and deterioration of the collagen network. The subject with cartilage lesion showed elevated T2 values compared to the subject without cartilage lesion.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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