Abstract #0146

Correlation Between Quantitative Delayed Contrast-Enhancement in Meniscus and Cartilage in Knee Osteoarthritis

Jasper van Tiel¹,², Esther Bron¹,³, Koen Bos², Stefan Klein¹,³, Max Reijman², Jan Verhaar², Gabriel Krestin¹, Harrie Weinans²,⁴, Gyula Kotek¹, Edwin Oei¹

¹Radiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands; ²Orthopedic Surgery, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands; ³Medical Informatics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands; ⁴Biomechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

We investigated the relation between delayed contrast-enhancement of an ionic contrast agent in the meniscus and adjacent cartilage in early stage knee osteoarthritis patients. We observed a moderate to strong relation between contrast uptake into both structures after a 1.5 hour delay. This finding is in agreement with the outcomes of previous research in which semi-quantitative whole joint assessment on MR images showed a relation between meniscal damage and cartilage loss. However, our results also raise a question about the specificity of delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage for sGAG content in (osteoarthritic) cartilage.