title: Subclinical cartilage degeneration in young athletes with posterior cruciate ligament injuries detected with T1ρ magnetic resonance imaging mapping.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Prediction of the risk of osteoarthritis in asymptomatic active patients with an isolated injury of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is difficult. T1ρ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enables the quantification of the proteoglycan content in the articular cartilage. The purpose of this study was to evaluate subclinical cartilage degeneration in asymptomatic young athletes with chronic PCL deficiency using T1ρ MRI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six athletes with chronic PCL deficiency (median age 17, range 14-36 years) and six subjects without any history of knee injury (median age 31.5, range 24-33 years) were recruited. Regions of interest were placed on the articular cartilage of the tibia and the distal and posterior areas of the femoral condyle, and T1ρ values were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On stress radiographs, the mean side-to-side difference in posterior laxity was 9.8 mm. The T1ρ values at the posterior area of the lateral femoral condyle and the superficial layer of the distal area of the medial and lateral femoral condyle of the patients were significantly increased compared with those of the normal controls (p < 0.05). At the tibial plateau, the T1ρ values in both the medial and lateral compartments were significantly higher in patients compared with those in the normal controls (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  T1ρ MRI detected unexpected cartilage degeneration in the well-functioning PCL-deficient knees of young athletes. One should be alert to the possibility of subclinical cartilage degeneration even in asymptomatic patients who show no degenerative changes on plain radiographs or conventional MRI.
  
  
  METHODS
  IV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-0054, Japan. okazaki@med.kyushu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okazaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-0054, Japan.
authors.forename: Kanji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Osaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-0054, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mizu-Uchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-0054, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamai
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-0054, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukihide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D002357:Cartilage Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000293:injuries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D016119:Posterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cartilage; Conservative treatment; Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Osteoarthritis; Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)