Daniele Ascani1,
Catherine Petchprapa2, James S. Babb2, Michael P. Recht2,
Riccardo Lattanzi1, 3
1Radiology/Center
for Biomedical Imaging, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United
States; 2Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY,
United States; 3The Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical
Sciences, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
Early detection of articular cartilage damage is critical to the success of joint preserving surgeries for patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). Delayed Gadolinium-Enhanced MRI of Cartilage (dGEMRIC) and T2 mapping can detect early biochemical changes in cartilage. We investigated the relationship of dGEMRIC and T2 with morphologic cartilage assessment at 3T. dGEMRIC was very sensitive to cartilage damage (71% and 86% for minor and severe lesions, respectively), whereas T2 was very specific (87% for any type of lesion). This preliminary study suggests that the combination of morphologic MRI, dGEMRIC and T2 could be effective in detecting and staging cartilage damage.