Accuracy of T1 measurement with 3-D Look-Locker technique for dGEMRIC.
OBJECTIVE
To validate the accuracy of T1 measurement by three-dimensional Look-Locker method (3D LL) for delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) of human subjects with and without osteoarthritis (OA), as compared with two-dimensional inversion recovery fast spin-echo (2D IR-FSE) technique.


METHODS
MR sagittal images of the knees were acquired for T1 mapping in 29 subjects with standard 2D IR-FSE and 3D LL sequences 90-135 min following administration of 0.2 mmol/kg Gd-DTPA(2-). T1 maps of femoral and tibial cartilage were generated using custom software. Comparisons in T1 values between the two techniques were performed using regression analysis.


RESULTS
Good agreement in T1 values between 2D IR-FSE and 3D LL was observed (R values of 0.90, and 0.85, and 0.86 for all, OA, and control subjects, respectively) when acquired within 15 min.


CONCLUSIONS
The 3D LL sequence provides accurate T1 estimates of articular cartilage with advantages of entire joint coverage, shorter acquisition time, and a wide range of inversion times sampled within a single acquisition.
Li
Wei
W
Department of Radiology, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Evanston, IL 60201, USA. lwei@enh.org
Scheidegger
Rachel
R
Wu
Ying
Y
Vu
Anthony
A
Prasad
Pottumarthi V
PV
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D007717:Knee / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000175:diagnosis*
D019786:Gadolinium DTPA