Quantitative T2 mapping of femoral head cartilage in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with noncollapsed osteonecrosis of the femoral head associated with corticosteroid therapy

Abstract

Purpose:To evaluate articular cartilage degeneration with transverse relaxation time (T2) mapping in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with noncollapsed and asymptomatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head associated with corticosteroids.Materials and Methods:T2 mapping with a 1.5‐T magnetic resonance imaging system was prospectively performed for 28 normal hips from 14 healthy volunteers (control group) and 15 hips from 10 SLE patients that met the inclusion criteria of noncollapsed and asymptomatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (osteonecrosis group). Exclusion criteria were past experience of pain, trauma, infection, or prior hip joint surgery. Distribution of T2 values of the femoral head cartilage were compared between the control group and the osteonecrosis group with respect to acetabular dysplasia by center‐edge angle (CEA).Results:T2 values of the femoral head cartilage were significantly higher in the osteonecrosis group than in the control group (34.4 msec vs. 30.8 msec, P = 0.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that the osteonecrosis group and decreased CEA was significantly associated with high T2 values (T2 value = 34.6 + 3.6 × [osteonecrosis] − 0.14 × CEA, R2 = 0.52, P = 0.003).Conclusion:Degeneration of articular cartilage was associated with osteonecrosis of the femoral head in SLE patients and acetabular dysplasia. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2011;. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Corticosteroids and low bone mineral density affect hip cartilage in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: Quantitative T2 mapping

“…In this study, all the groups showed gradient patterns of T2 distribution, although the corticosteroid‐ON and corticosteroid+ON groups showed significantly higher values than were observed in the control group. Yamamoto et al suggested that acetabular dysplasia was associated with degeneration of the femoral head cartilage . However, our study did not show any relationship between T2 values and acetabular coverage.…”

OARSI Clinical Trials Recommendations: Hip imaging in clinical trials in osteoarthritis

“…Cartilage biochemical composition of the hip has been quantified with T2 (20, 33, 86) and T2* relaxation time measurements (87), dGEMRIC (31, 32, 66, 88–96) and T1rho relaxation time measurements (35). An initial study (95) found high reproducibility using dGEMRIC (ICC range, 0.667–0.915) in young healthy subjects.…”

Quantitative T2 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Compared to Morphological Grading of the Early Cervical Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: An Evaluation Approach in Asymptomatic Young Adults

“…The T2 relaxation time has been reported to reflect the environment of molecules produced in the IVDs, which include protein, neutral fat, collagen, and other solutes[11]. Several studies have described the benefits of T2 mapping as a technique for biochemical and structural analysis of cartilage tissue of the spine, IVD and other joints [12]–[14]. Good correlation between T2 mapping values and water or PG content in lumbar IVD tissue has widely validated [15]–[19].…”