T1ρ and T2 relaxation times are associated with progression of hip osteoarthritis

Abstract

Objective To evaluate whether baseline T1ρ and T2 relaxation times of hip cartilage are associated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based progression of hip osteoarthritis (OA) at 18 months. Methods 3T MRI studies of the hip were obtained at baseline and 18-month follow-up for 54 subjects without evidence of severe OA at baseline [Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) score of 0–3]. 2D fast spin-echo sequences were used for semi-quantitative morphological scoring of cartilage lesions and a combined T1ρ/T2 sequence was used to quantitatively assess cartilage composition. Progression of hip OA was defined based on incident or progression of morphological semi-quantitative grade at 18 months. Baseline T1ρ and T2 relaxation times were compared between progressors and non-progressors using one-way analysis of variance and Mann-Whitney U tests and used to predict progression with binary logistic regression after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, and KL score. Additionally, a novel voxel-based relaxometry technique was used to compare the spatial distribution of baseline T1ρ and T2 between progressors and non-progressors. Results Significantly higher baseline T1ρ and T2 values were observed in hip OA progressors compared to non-progressors, particularly in the posterosuperior and anterior aspects of the femoral cartilage. Logistic regression showed that higher baseline T1ρ or T2 values in the femoral cartilage were significantly associated with progression of femoral cartilage lesions at 18 months. Conclusion T1ρ and T2 relaxation parameters are associated with morphological cartilage degeneration at 18 months and may serve as potential imaging biomarkers for progression of cartilage lesions in hip OA.

Study of the interactions between proximal femur 3d bone shape, cartilage health, and biomechanics in patients with hip Osteoarthritis

“…T1ρ and T2 values in these specific cartilage regions were previously observed to be significant predictors of the longitudinal progression of cartilage lesions [10], suggesting, as a possible future direction, the combined use of shape analysis and compositional MRI to improve the predictive ability of longitudinal cartilage degeneration.…”

“…T1ρ and T2 relaxation times provide a measure of proteoglycan content and collagen orientation [6–8], respectively, and prolongation in both these relaxation parameters were observed in hip OA subjects [9]. In addition, cartilage sub-regions characterized by elevated T1ρ and T2 values at baseline demonstrated longitudinal progression of morphological cartilage degeneration, indicating that T1ρ and T2 may be biomarkers for early OA [10]. The spatial variation of cartilage relaxation times in the hip joint, and the need for a regional analysis to extract a realistic imaging biomarker from relaxation parametric maps has also been recognized [11, 12].…”

Joint Loading in the Sagittal Plane During Gait Is Associated With Hip Joint Abnormalities in Patients With Femoroacetabular Impingement

“…FAI has been suggested to be an early precursor to hip OA, 1,9,14,36 and therefore, when possible, future biomechanical studies involving patients with FAI should include quantitative MRI-based measurements 3,32 (ie, T1ρ and T2 relaxation times), as these quantitative MRI-based measurements are able to identify early degenerative changes that occur before gross morphological changes. 8 …”

MRI-based hip cartilage measures in osteoarthritic and non-osteoarthritic individuals: a systematic review

“…43 44 Instead of providing quantitative hip cartilage measurements, two studies provided semiquantitative data regarding hip cartilage signal changes, description or quantification of hip cartilage defects, and/or quantification of other MR cartilage parameters such as relaxometry. 35 39 OA defining criteria were not used in five studies. 11 28 30 38 One study 36 used an MRI-based scoring system for OA (Hip Osteoarthritis MRI Scoring System, HOAMS 37 ), whereas the remaining studies used radiographic grading of hip OA as per the Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) score or Altman atlas.…”

“…39 The Scoring Hip Osteoarthritis with MRI (SHOMRI) 40 scoring system was used to evaluate the presence of hip cartilage lesions in multiple anatomic subregions using fast spin echo (FSE) images. Baseline cartilage scores for 54 participants were compared with cartilage scores at 18 months.…”