title: One screening magnetic resonance imaging sequence in evaluation of chondral and meniscal lesions of the knee - a pilot study.
abstract: This prospective study aimed to evaluate if chondral and meniscal lesions in symptomatic knees of osteoarthritis patients can be reliably identified using only one sagittal dual-echo MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) sequence. MRI was performed on 13 patients after knee arthroscopy due to knee pain and clinically suspected osteoarthritis using a 1.5-Tesla scanner with knee coil and a sagittal dual-echo turbo spin-echo PD (Proton Density)- and T2-weighted sequence. The MRI and arthroscopic findings were then compared. Of 65 articular surfaces, 47 were damaged. For articular cartilage lesions, the overall sensitivity of MRI was 46.8%, specificity 72.2%, and diagnostic accuracy 53.9%, and for meniscal ruptures 81.2%, 66.7%, and 73.1%, respectively. The present study showed that the reliability of screening MRI of knees using only one sagittal dual-echo sequence does not suffice for diagnosis of chondral or meniscal lesions, and should therefore not replace routine knee MRI or diagnostic arthroscopy.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Military Medicine, P.O. Box 50, FIN-00301 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Paavo-Ilari
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Kuikka
authors.forename: Ole M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Böstman
authors.forename: Martti J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kiuru
authors.forename: Sari T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Salminen
authors.forename: Sakari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mikkola
authors.forename: Harri K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Pihlajamäki