Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging Techniques of knee joint in Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of impaired mobility in the elderly. The natural history of osteoarthritis of is highly variable, with the disease improving in some patients, remaining stable in others, and gradually worsening in others. Many persons with knee pain have limitations in function that prevent them from engaging in their usual activities. Due to the high prevalence of osteoarthritis, its major effect on health and variable natural course, variable radiological methods have been tried for early detection and follow up. Up to day Conventional radiography is the method of choice for diagnosis and followup of osteoarthritis being readily available, cheap and fast examination however it has several drawbacks as radiation exposure and inferiority in detecting soft tissue changes as early cartilaginous changes. The growth of MRI as an OA imaging biomarker has evolved to a point where it can be recommended for clinical trials in terms of cartilage morphology assessment. Much still needs to be understood about compositional cartilage measures and just as importantly, quantification ofnon-cartilage features. MR imaging is a powerful tool for the morphologic and compositional imaging of cartilage in the knee. Recent advances in pharmacologic and surgical treatments of degenerative and traumatic lesions of knee cartilage have led to a resurgence of interest in the use of MR imaging in clinical practice and clinical research. For routine clinical examinations of the knee joint, most departments are still applying a multiplanar 2D fast SE sequence, alone or in combination with a 3D GRE sequence (SPGR, in most cases), to improve cartilage assessment. Novel 3D fast SE sequences are available for the assessment of knee cartilage and other internal structures but have not yet replaced the standard MR imaging sequences. However, it is possible that in the near future a single 3D fast SE sequence with multiplanar reformatting will surpass standard 2D fast SE techniques in clinical practice and clinical research by substantially reducing acquisition time. The combined use of high-resolution morphologic imaging techniques and compositional imaging techniques may lead to increased sensitivity of MR imaging for the detection of earlyartilaginous degeneration of osteoarthri