Fully Automated 10-Minute 3D CAIPIRINHA SPACE TSE MRI of the Knee in Adults: A Multicenter, Multireader, Multifield-Strength Validation Study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the knee with 10-minute 3-dimensional (3D) controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (CAIPIRINHA) sampling perfection with application optimized contrast using different flip angle evolutions (SPACE) turbo spin echo (TSE) protocols can replace 20-minute 2-dimensional (2D) TSE standard-of-reference protocols for the diagnosis of internal derangement.

Materials And Methods: After internal review board approval and prospective informed consent, 100 symptomatic subjects underwent MRI of the knee at 3 T and 50 symptomatic subjects at 1.5 T, consisting of 10-minute 3D CAIPIRINHA SPACE TSE and 20-minute standard-of-reference 2D TSE protocols. Two fellowship-trained musculoskeletal radiologists assessed the studies in an anonymized and randomized fashion for structural abnormalities. Descriptive statistics, interreader reliability, intermethod concordance, diagnostic definitiveness, and interchangeability tests were applied. P values equal to or smaller than 0.01 were considered significant.

Results: The interchangeability analysis showed that the 3D MRI can replace the 2D MRI protocols, whereas a superiority of 3D MRI was suggested statistically for the detection of medial and lateral meniscal tears, cartilage defects, and bone marrow edema by significantly higher common pair exact match proportions of readers (P < 0.01, respectively).The overall interreader reliabilities were 89% of exact matches for 2D TSE (κ, 0.842) and 96% of exact matches for 3D TSE (κ, 0.941) (P < 0.01). There was good intermethod concordance (κ, 0.736; range, 0.579-1.000). The interreader reliability (2D TSE: κ, 0.748 [0.603-1.000]; 3D TSE: κ, 0.901 [0.797-1.000]) and diagnostic definitiveness were significantly higher for the 3D than 2D MRI (P < 0.01).

Conclusions: 10-minute 3D CAIPIRINHA SPACE TSE MRI protocols can replace 20-minute 2D TSE standard-of-reference MRI protocols for the evaluation of internal derangement of the knee by producing similar results in individual patient diagnoses, whereas interpretations of 3D CAIPIRINHA SPACE TSE MRI examinations resulted in an overall higher interreader reliability, intermethod concordance, and reader definitiveness.