Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Articular Cartilage and Evaluation of Cartilage Disease

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Abstract
Trattnig S, Mlynárik V, Huber M, Ba-Ssalamah A, Puig S, Imhof H. Magnetic resonance imaging of articular cartilage and evaluation of cartilage disease. Invest Radiol 2000;35:595–601. Clinical magnetic resonance imaging of articular cartilage is possible by using techniques that offer high contrast between articular cartilage and adjacent structures in reasonable examination times. The fat-suppressed, three-dimensional, spoiled gradient-echo sequence has been reported to be accurate and reliable, and the addition of this sequence to a routine examination does not significantly compromise patient throughput. Fast spin-echo imaging also shows promise in the clinical evaluation of articular cartilage, because the newer, stronger-gradient systems allow thinner slice acquisition with two-dimensional sequences. Together, these sequences allow the evaluation of intrachondral lesions and surface defects. Furthermore, quantitative measurements of cartilage volume for follow-up studies are possible with the use of the fat-suppressed, three-dimensional, spoiled gradient-echo sequence.