ABSTRACT
Conclusion:
Although MRI is the leading imaging modality due to its high sensitivity and diagnostic efficiency, particularly in detecting advanced cartilage pathologies, the magnetic power of the device and the sequences used are important to obtain optimal images. Although the success rates of different sequences in different planes in detecting and grading chondropathy vary in studies, MRI reaches high accuracies in detecting and grading advanced cartilage lesions with the use of appropriate sequences.
Results:
The comparison of advanced cartilage lesions at the specified six regions of the knee joint detected using sagittal fat saturated T2- and axial T2-weighted sequences with arthoscopic results revealed that 199 out of 252 regions results showed concordance. At a total number of 38 regions, MRI results failed to detect cartilage lesions, and at 15 regions, the MRI evaluated pathologic results, while arthroscopy revealed normal results. The success of MRI in grading cartilage defects and its concordance with arthroscopy were higher at the medial condyl of the femur and patellar facets.
Methods:
In this study, we enrolled 16 male (%38.1) 26 female (%61.9) patients who applied to Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Education and Research Hospital with complaints of throbbing knee pain after long walks and uneasiness during climbing stairs and whose arthroscopies were already scheduled. Forty-two knee joints were evaluated using routine fat-saturated T2-weighted fast spin echo (FSE), sagittal T1, sagittal fatsuppressed proton density (PD) FSE, and coronal short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) sequences. The MRI results were retrospectively analyzed and compared with the arthroscopic outcomes.
Objective:
Today, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures used to detect and measure articular hyaline cartilaginous defects are being increasingly investigated. In this study, we evaluated the sensitivity and diagnostic efficiency of MRI in the detection of particularly advanced cartilage pathologies compared to the arthroscopic results.
