RESEARCH ARTICLE


One Screening Magnetic Resonance Imaging Sequence in Evaluation of Chondral and Meniscal Lesions of the Knee − A Pilot Study



Paavo-Ilari Kuikka*, 1, Ole M Böstman2, Martti J Kiuru1, 3, 4, Sari T Salminen5, Sakari Mikkola3, Harri K Pihlajamäki1, 6
1 Centre for Military Medicine, P.O. Box 50, FIN-00301 Helsinki, Finland
2 Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
3 Department of Radiology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
4 Orton Invalid Foundation, Helsinki, Finland
5 Department of Pediatric Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
6 Department of Surgery, Central Military Hospital, Helsinki, Finland


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
0
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 625
Abstract HTML Views: 408
PDF Downloads: 278
Total Views/Downloads: 1311
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 413
Abstract HTML Views: 297
PDF Downloads: 178
Total Views/Downloads: 888



Creative Commons License
2008 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Centre for Military Medicine, P.O. Box 50, FIN-00301 Helsinki, Finland; E-mail: paavo.kuikka@gmail.com or pikuikka@hytti.uku.fi


Abstract

This prospective study aimed to evaluate if chondral and meniscal lesions in symptomatic knees of osteoarthritis patients can be reliably identified using only one sagittal dual-echo MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) sequence. MRI was performed on 13 patients after knee arthroscopy due to knee pain and clinically suspected osteoarthritis using a 1.5-Tesla scanner with knee coil and a sagittal dual-echo turbo spin-echo PD (Proton Density)- and T2-weighted sequence. The MRI and arthroscopic findings were then compared. Of 65 articular surfaces, 47 were damaged. For articular cartilage lesions, the overall sensitivity of MRI was 46.8%, specificity 72.2%, and diagnostic accuracy 53.9%, and for meniscal ruptures 81.2%, 66.7%, and 73.1%, respectively. The present study showed that the reliability of screening MRI of knees using only one sagittal dual-echo sequence does not suffice for diagnosis of chondral or meniscal lesions, and should therefore not replace routine knee MRI or diagnostic arthroscopy.

Keywords: Osteoarthritis, knee, articular cartilage, MRI, arthroscopy.