Nocera Irene, Di Franco Chiara, Marcucci Elisa, Puccinelli Caterina, Sala Giulia, Sgorbini Micaela, Citi Simonetta
Institute of Health Science, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Via Santa Cecilia 3, Pisa, Italy.
Institute of Clinical Physiology, CNR San Cataldo Research Area, Pisa, Italy.
Res Vet Sci. 2025 Mar;185:105548. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2025.105548. Epub 2025 Jan 21.
CT arthrography (CTA) for evaluating cartilage defects would be beneficial in clinical practice. Since the contrast medium (CM) volume is often driven by operator experience, the aim was to evaluate the minimum volume of iodinated CM for CTA sufficient to identify iatrogenic cartilage defects in horse fetlock. The study was conducted on ex-vivo 32 distal limbs from adult horses collected at slaughter. Iatrogenic cartilage defects were arthroscopically made on fetlock, at 5 predetermined locations. Subsequently, CT scans were performed, according to the following protocol: precontrast scan, followed by subsequent scans with incremental volumes of CM, ranging from 2,5-40 ml (total of 10 scans per fetlock). Then, the cartilage defects were measured macroscopically using a calliper. CTA scans were evaluated by a single operator, and defects were assessed for presence/absence and volume measures. Data were expressed as median and interquartile values. The association between CT scan assessments and different CM volumes was examined with chi-square test. The correlation between CT scans and macroscopic assessments was evaluated using Spearman's coefficient. Significance was set at a p-value <0.05. Twenty millilitres of CM were required to visualize 100 % of the defects, regardless of the location. A weak correlation was found between the defects' volume on macroscopic and CT scan assessment. Twenty millilitres of CM was sufficient to identify cartilage defects on the fetlock articular surface, supporting the conscious use of CM adequate for specific diagnostic purposes.
计算机断层扫描关节造影（CTA）用于评估软骨缺损在临床实践中是有益的。由于造影剂（CM）的用量通常由操作者的经验决定，本研究旨在评估用于马球节CTA的碘化CM的最小用量，以充分识别医源性软骨缺损。本研究对屠宰时收集的32个成年马的离体远端肢体进行。通过关节镜在球节的5个预定位置制造医源性软骨缺损。随后，按照以下方案进行CT扫描：平扫，然后用递增体积的CM进行后续扫描，范围从2.5至40毫升（每个球节总共10次扫描）。然后，使用卡尺对软骨缺损进行宏观测量。CTA扫描由一名操作者进行评估，并对缺损的有无和体积测量进行评估。数据以中位数和四分位数间距值表示。采用卡方检验检查CT扫描评估与不同CM体积之间的关联。使用Spearman系数评估CT扫描与宏观评估之间的相关性。显著性设定为p值<0.05。无论位置如何，均需要20毫升CM才能100%显示缺损。在宏观评估和CT扫描评估的缺损体积之间发现弱相关性。20毫升CM足以识别球节关节表面的软骨缺损，支持根据特定诊断目的合理使用CM。
