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Comparison of T1rho relaxation times between ACL-reconstructed knees and contralateral uninjured knees

  • Knee
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

The goal of this study is to compare the cartilage of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-reconstructed and uninjured contralateral knees using T 1ρ MRI 12–16 months after ACL reconstructions.

Methods

Eighteen patients with ACL-reconstructed knees (10 women, 8 men, mean age = 38.3 ± 7.8 years) were studied using 3T MRI. Injured and contralateral knee MR studies were acquired 12–16 months post-operatively. Cartilage sub-compartment T 1ρ values of each injured knee were compared with the contralateral knee’s values. Subgroup analysis of sub-compartment T 1ρ values in both knees was performed between patients with and without meniscal tears at the time of ACL reconstruction using a paired Student’s t test.

Results

In ACL-injured knees, the T 1ρ values of the medial tibia (MT) and medial femoral condyle (MFC) were significantly elevated at 12–16 months follow-up compared to contralateral knees. Patients with a medial meniscal tear had higher MFC and MT T 1ρ values compared to respective regions in contralateral knees. Patients with lateral meniscal tears had higher lateral femoral condyle and LT T 1ρ values compared to respective regions in contralateral knees. There were no differences between the injured and contralateral knees of patients without meniscal tears.

Conclusions

T 1ρ MRI can detect significant changes in the medial compartments’ cartilage matrix of ACL-reconstructed knees at 1 year post-operatively compared to contralateral knees. The presence of a meniscal tear at the time of ACL reconstruction is a risk factor for cartilage matrix degeneration in the femorotibial compartments on the same side as the meniscal tear.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health grants K25 AR053633 and R01 AR46905.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, San Francisco School of Medicine, University of California, 500 Parnassus Ave, MU320W, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Alexander A. Theologis & C. Benjamin Ma

  2. Department of Radiology, San Francisco School of Medicine, University of California, China Basin Landing, 185 Berry Street, Suite 350, San Francisco, CA, 94107, USA

    Bryan Haughom, Fei Liang, Yu Zhang & Xiaojuan Li

  3. Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, San Francisco School of Medicine, University of California, 1700 4th Street, Suite 203, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Sharmila Majumdar

  4. Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, San Francisco School of Medicine, University of California, 400 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94122, USA

    Thomas M. Link

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  1. Alexander A. Theologis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaojuan Li.

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Theologis, A.A., Haughom, B., Liang, F. et al. Comparison of T1rho relaxation times between ACL-reconstructed knees and contralateral uninjured knees. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 22, 298–307 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-013-2397-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-013-2397-z

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