To validate meniscal T2-mapping, which is suggested to detect early meniscal degeneration, T2 relaxation times of ten menisci (five traumatically torn and five degenerative menisci from 10 patients) were compared to histopathology as the gold standard to assess meniscal degeneration. T2 relaxation times were found to correlate well with histopathological degree of degeneration in meniscal tissue (rs = 0.64, P = 0.001). Degenerative meniscal tissue was found to exhibit significantly higher T2 relaxation times compared to non-degenerated meniscal tissue (22.7±3.0 ms and 18.2 ±5.1 ms (P = 0.02) respectively). Therefore, T2-mapping is a promising quantitative imaging biomarker for meniscal degeneration.
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