Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, Department of Radiology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2009 Aug;17(8):988-94. doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2009.03.009. Epub 2009 Mar 24.
The magnetic resonance (MR) T2 value of the cartilage, which has been shown in the articular cartilage to correlate with collagen fiber orientation and water content, may be helpful for early detection of chondropathy. However, the measurement and significance of MR T2 value for knee meniscus have not been well established. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the MR T2 values in the diverse zones of the posterior horn of the knee meniscus differ between sexes in a young healthy population.
Twenty healthy volunteers, 10 men and 10 women (aged from 22 to 32 years), were enrolled for MR imaging of the right knee menisci. The T2 values of the posterior horns of the medial and lateral knee menisci were measured for the white zone, red/white zone, and red zone on images acquired with fat-suppressed multislice turbo spin-echo sequence at 3.0 T.
The T2 value, with medial and lateral menisci considered together, increased significantly from the inner white zone (T2=8.02+/-0.60 ms), to the red/white zone (T2=8.78+/-0.99 ms), and to the outer red zone (T2=12.22+/-0.92 ms) of the posterior horns of the menisci (P<0.001). A generalized estimating equation method and multiple linear regression model showed that the T2 values averaged for the medial and lateral menisci together in the red and red/white zones were significantly lower in men than in women by 1.320 ms (P=0.002) and 0.865 ms (P<0.001), respectively, while the white zone showed no significant difference (P=0.694) between men (8.08+/-0.63 ms) and women (7.98+/-0.60 ms).
Zonal and sex differences in the MR T2 values in the posterior horns of the knee menisci exist in the young healthy population. These differences may be associated with sex differences in the occurrence of knee osteoarthritis.
关节软骨的磁共振（MR）T2 值已被证明与胶原纤维方向和含水量相关，因此对于早期发现软骨病可能有帮助。然而，对于 MR T2 值在膝关节半月板中的测量和意义尚未得到很好的建立。本研究旨在探讨在年轻健康人群中，膝关节半月板后角的不同区域的 MR T2 值是否存在性别差异。
共纳入 20 名健康志愿者（10 名男性，10 名女性；年龄 22~32 岁），对其右膝半月板进行 MR 成像。在 3.0T 场强下，使用脂肪抑制多层面涡轮自旋回波序列获取图像，测量内侧和外侧半月板后角的白区、红白区和红区的 T2 值。
内侧和外侧半月板联合考虑，T2 值从半月板后角的内白区（T2=8.02+/-0.60 ms）逐渐升高至红白区（T2=8.78+/-0.99 ms）和外红区（T2=12.22+/-0.92 ms）（P<0.001）。广义估计方程法和多元线性回归模型显示，男性内侧和外侧半月板的红区和红白区 T2 值平均比女性低 1.320 ms（P=0.002）和 0.865 ms（P<0.001），而白区在男性（8.08+/-0.63 ms）和女性（7.98+/-0.60 ms）之间无显著差异（P=0.694）。
在年轻健康人群中，膝关节半月板后角的 MR T2 值存在区域性和性别差异。这些差异可能与膝关节骨关节炎的发生性别差异有关。
