Nelson B B, Kawcak C E, Barrett M F, McIlwraith C W, Grinstaff M W, Goodrich L R
Gail Holmes Equine Orthopaedic Research Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
Equine Vet J. 2018 Sep;50(5):564-579. doi: 10.1111/evj.12808. Epub 2018 Feb 27.
Articular cartilage is a critical joint tissue and its evaluation remains a diagnostic challenge in horses. Coupled with a poor capacity for healing, early degenerative changes in articular cartilage are difficult to characterise using routine diagnostic imaging evaluations. Both computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provide volumetric joint assessment and highlight morphological and quantitative properties of articular cartilage, improving assessment of this essential tissue. While the use of CT and MRI for joint evaluation is not new, there still remains a shortage of literature and scientific studies on the ability of these methods to evaluate articular cartilage in the horse. This review article summarises current CT and MRI techniques capable of characterising equine articular cartilage, highlights recent advances in these techniques and discusses the numerous methods studied in human subjects that have been minimally investigated in horses. Imaging techniques are presented in terms of their capabilities of offering morphological and quantitative evaluation along with a discussion of their benefits and limitations. Finally, it summarises the current state-of-the-art approaches and identifies unmet clinical imaging needs to propel the advancement of articular cartilage and joint imaging in the horse.
关节软骨是一种关键的关节组织，对其进行评估在马匹中仍然是一项诊断挑战。由于其愈合能力较差，使用常规诊断成像评估难以对关节软骨早期退行性变化进行特征描述。计算机断层扫描（CT）和磁共振成像（MRI）均可提供关节容积评估，并突出关节软骨的形态学和定量特性，从而改善对这一重要组织的评估。虽然CT和MRI用于关节评估并非新鲜事，但关于这些方法评估马匹关节软骨能力的文献和科学研究仍然匮乏。这篇综述文章总结了目前能够对马关节软骨进行特征描述的CT和MRI技术，突出了这些技术的最新进展，并讨论了在人类受试者中研究众多但在马匹中研究极少的方法。成像技术根据其提供形态学和定量评估的能力进行介绍，并讨论其优点和局限性。最后，总结了当前的先进方法，并确定了未满足的临床成像需求，以推动马匹关节软骨和关节成像的发展。
