Subregional Anatomical Distribution of T2 Values of Articular Cartilage in Asymptomatic Hips.

Objective: A standardized definition of normative T2 values across the articular surface of the hip must be defined in order to fully understand T2 values for detecting early degeneration. Therefore, in this article, we seek to lay foundational methodology for reproducible quantitative evaluation of hip cartilage damage using T2 mapping to determine the normative T2 values in asymptomatic individuals.

Design: Nineteen prospectively enrolled asymptomatic volunteers (age 18-35 years, males 10, females 9, alpha angle 49.

MRI T2 mapping of the asymptomatic supraspinatus tendon by age and imaging plane using clinically relevant subregions.

Purpose: Diagnosis of partial rotator cuff tears and tendonopathy using conventional MRI has proven variable. Quantitative T2 mapping may have application for assessing rotator cuff health. In order to evaluate the usefulness of T2 mapping for the rotator cuff, methods must be refined for mapping the supraspinatus tendon, and normative T2 values must first be acquired.

Clinically Relevant Subregions of Articular Cartilage of the Hip for Analysis and Reporting Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Technical Note.

Objective: Before quantitative imaging techniques can become clinically valuable, the method, and more specifically, the regions of locating and reporting these values should be standardized toward reproducibility comparisons across centers and longitudinal follow-up of individual patients. The purpose of this technical note is to describe a rigorous and reproducible method of locating, analyzing, and reporting quantitative MRI values in hip articular cartilage with an approach that is consistent with current orthopedic literature.

Design: To demonstrate this localization and documentation, 3 patients (age, 23 ± 5.

T2 values of articular cartilage in clinically relevant subregions of the asymptomatic knee.

Purpose: In order for T2 mapping to become more clinically applicable, reproducible subregions and standardized T2 parameters must be defined. This study sought to: (1) define clinically relevant subregions of knee cartilage using bone landmarks identifiable on both MR images and during arthroscopy and (2) determine healthy T2 values and T2 texture parameters within these subregions.

Methods: Twenty-five asymptomatic volunteers (age 18-35) were evaluated with a sagittal T2 mapping sequence.

Quantitative MRI in the evaluation of articular cartilage health: reproducibility and variability with a focus on T2 mapping.

Purpose: Early diagnosis of cartilage degeneration and longitudinal tracking of cartilage health including repair following surgical intervention would benefit from the ability to detect and monitor changes of the articular cartilage non-invasively and before gross morphological alterations appear.

Methods: Quantitative MR imaging has shown promising results with various imaging biomarkers such as T2 mapping, T1 rho and dGEMRIC demonstrating sensitivity in the detection of biochemical alterations within tissues of interest. However, acquiring accurate and clinically valuable quantitative data has proven challenging, and the reproducibility of the quantitative mapping technique and its values are essential.