An initial qualitative study of dual-energy CT in the knee ligaments.
OBJECTIVE
To study the clinical application of dual-energy CT (DECT) in the knee ligaments.


METHODS
Twelve cases (24 knees) were scanned using dual-energy CT for the knee. Two- and three-dimensional images were used for display in all cases by means of multi-planar reformation (MPR) and volume rendering technique (VRT). All images were ranked by two radiologists according to the grade of knee ligament displayed, the definition of edge and attachment points of the knee ligament.


RESULTS
The partial ligaments of 24 knees, such as the patellar ligament, fibular collateral ligament, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) were clearly displayed; the tibial collateral ligament was not satisfactorily displayed. The transversal ligaments, such as lateral patellar retinaculum and medial patellar retinaculum, and the posterior ligament, such as oblique popliteal ligament could not be shown clearly.


CONCLUSIONS
The dual-energy CT is a new and valuable tool to qualitatively display the main ligaments of the knee.
Sun
Cong
C
Shandong Provincial Medical Imaging Institute, Road jing-wu, No. 324, 250021, Jinan, Shandong, China.
Miao
Fan
F
Wang
Xi-Ming
XM
Wang
Tao
T
Ma
Rui
R
Wang
Dao-Ping
DP
Liu
Cheng
C
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008023:Ligaments, Articular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*