Evaluation of focal cartilage lesions of the knee using MRI T2 mapping and delayed Gadolinium Enhanced MRI of Cartilage (dGEMRIC)

BACKGROUND: Assessment of degenerative changes of the cartilage is important in knee cartilage repair surgery. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) T2 mapping and delayed Gadolinium Enhanced MRI of Cartilage (dGEMRIC) are able to detect early degenerative changes. The hypothesis of the study was that cartilage surrounding a focal cartilage lesion in the knee does not possess degenerative changes. METHODS: Twenty-eight consecutive patients included in a randomized controlled trial on cartilage repair were evaluated using MRI T2 mapping and dGEMRIC before cartilage treatment was initiated. Inclusion was based on disabling knee problems (Lysholm score of ≤ 75) due to an arthroscopically verified focal femoral condyle cartilage lesion. Furthermore, no major malalignments or knee ligament injuries were accepted. Mean patient age was 33 ± 9.6 years, and the mean duration of knee symptoms was 49 ± 60 months. The MRI T2 mapping and the dGEMRIC measurements were performed at three standardized regions of interest (ROIs) at the medial and lateral femoral condyle, avoiding the cartilage lesion RESULTS: The MRI T2 mapping of the cartilage did not demonstrate significant differences between condyles with or without cartilage lesions. The dGEMRIC results did not show significantly lower values of the affected condyle compared with the opposite condyle and the contra-lateral knee in any of the ROIs. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of the dGEMRIC readings was 0.882. CONCLUSION: The MRI T2 mapping and the dGEMRIC confirmed the arthroscopic findings that normal articular cartilage surrounded the cartilage lesion, reflecting normal variation in articular cartilage quality. STUDY IDENTIFIER: NCT00885729, registered April 17 2009. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12891-016-0941-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.