Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Basel, Basel Switzerland; Department of Spine Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Research, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Research Program for Musculoskeletal Imaging, Center of Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Arthritis and Rehabilitation (LBIAR), Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Chondrometrics GmbH, Freilassing, Germany.
Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2024 Nov;32(11):1492-1502. doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2024.06.014. Epub 2024 Jun 29.
To investigate the effect of unilateral anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury on cartilage thickness and composition, specifically laminar transverse relaxation time (T2) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in younger and older participants and to compare within-person side differences in these parameters between ACL-injured and healthy controls.
Quantitative double-echo steady-state 3 Tesla MRI-sequences were acquired in both knees of 85 participants in four groups: 20-30 years: healthy, HEA, n = 24; ACL-injured, ACL, n = 23; 40-60 years: healthy, HEA, n = 24; ACL-injured, ACL, n = 14 (ACL injury 2-10 years prior to study inclusion). Weight-bearing femorotibial cartilages were manually segmented; cartilage T2 and thickness were computed using custom software. Mean and side differences in subregional cartilage thickness, superficial and deep cartilage T2 were compared within and between groups using non-parametric statistics.
Cartilage thickness did not differ within or between groups. Only the side difference in medial femorotibial cartilage thickness was greater in ACL than in HEA. Deep zone T2 was longer in the ACL-injured than in the contralateral uninjured knees and than in healthy controls, especially in the lateral compartment. Most ACL-injured participants had side differences in femorotibial deep zone T2 above the threshold derived from controls.
In the ACL-injured knee, early compositional differences in femorotibial cartilage (T2) appear to occur in the deep zone and precede cartilage thickness loss. These results suggest that monitoring laminar T2 after ACL injury may be useful in diagnosing and monitoring early articular cartilage changes.
通过磁共振成像（MRI）研究单侧前交叉韧带（ACL）损伤对年轻和老年参与者软骨厚度和成分的影响，特别是层状横向弛豫时间（T2），并比较 ACL 损伤和健康对照组个体内的这些参数的侧间差异。
在四个组的双侧膝关节中采集了 85 名参与者的定量双回波稳态 3T MRI 序列：20-30 岁：健康，HEA，n=24；ACL 损伤，ACL，n=23；40-60 岁：健康，HEA，n=24；ACL 损伤，ACL，n=14（ACL 损伤发生在研究纳入前 2-10 年）。使用定制软件手动分割负重股骨胫骨软骨；使用定制软件计算软骨 T2 和厚度。使用非参数统计方法比较组内和组间各亚区软骨厚度、软骨浅层和深层 T2 的平均值和侧间差异。
软骨厚度在组内或组间没有差异。只有 ACL 组的内侧股骨胫骨软骨厚度的侧间差异大于 HEA 组。ACL 损伤组的股骨胫骨软骨深层 T2 长于对侧未损伤膝关节和健康对照组，尤其是外侧间室。大多数 ACL 损伤参与者的股骨胫骨软骨深层 T2 的侧间差异高于从对照组得出的阈值。
在 ACL 损伤的膝关节中，股骨胫骨软骨（T2）的早期成分差异似乎首先发生在深层，并先于软骨厚度的丧失。这些结果表明，在 ACL 损伤后监测层状 T2 可能有助于诊断和监测早期关节软骨变化。
