Visual Assessment of Cartilage Degeneration by 3D Cartilage T2 Map -Comparison with Arthroscopic Findings-

Satoru Tamura¹, Takashi Nishii¹, Hidetoshi Hamada¹, Ken Nakata¹, Tatsuo Mae¹, Hisashi Tanaka¹, Hideki Yoshikawa¹

T2 value is closely related to cartilage collagen matrix and water content, with significant correlation between higher T2 values and cartilage degenerative changes. 3D images are assumed to be more useful to evaluate the whole femoral cartilage than 2D images, regarding location and extent of cartilage disorder. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether cartilage damage on 3D T2 map of the knee joint can be detected reliably by comparing with arthroscopic findings. The sensitivity and the specificity were 70% and 88%, respectively. 3D reconstructed T2 mapping images were useful to detect the cartilage damage.