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Delayed Gadolinium-enhanced MR to Determine Glycosaminoglycan Concentration in Reparative Cartilage after Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation: Preliminary Results¹

¹ From the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery (A.W., Y.W., H.M.) and Radiology (T.U.), Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan; and Department of Medical Imaging, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba-Shi, Chiba 263-8555, Japan (A.W., T.O., M.T., H.I.). Received February 5, 2005; revision requested April 4; revision received May 2; final version accepted June 3. Supported by Health Science Research grants from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan and by grants-in-aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Address correspondence to T.O. (e-mail: t_obata{at}nirs.go.jp).

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of cartilage for assessment of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) concentration in reparative cartilage after autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI).

Materials and Methods: The study was approved by the ethics review committee of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, and informed consent was obtained from all patients. The study group comprised nine knees of nine patients (six male, three female; mean age at ACI, 21.2 years ± 7.5 [standard deviation]; age range, 13–35 years) who had undergone ACI and second-look arthroscopy with biopsy. MR imaging was performed at 1.5 T before and after intravenous injection of anionic gadopentetate dimeglumine. The precontrast R1 (R1_pre), postcontrast R1 (R1_post), and difference between R1_pre and R1_post (R1) were measured in reparative cartilage and normal cartilage. GAG concentrations in cartilage biopsy specimens were measured by using high-performance liquid chromatography. To evaluate delayed gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging of cartilage for assessment of GAG concentration, the authors defined the relative R1_pre, relative R1_post, and relative R1 (ie, R1_pre, R1_post, or R1, respectively, in reparative cartilage divided by that in normal cartilage) and the relative GAG concentration (ie, GAG concentration in reparative cartilage divided by that in normal cartilage). They then examined the relationships between relative R1_pre, relative R1_post, relative R1, and relative GAG by using correlation analysis.

Results: A significant correlation between relative R1 and relative GAG concentration (r = 0.818, P < .05) was observed. However, no significant correlation between relative R1_pre and relative GAG concentration (r = 0.010, P = .983) or between relative R1_post and relative GAG concentration (r = 0.660, P = .106) was observed.

Conclusion: Study results indicate that pre- and postcontrast imaging is necessary for delayed gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging evaluation of reparative cartilage after ACI.

© RSNA, 2006