Sarah Pownder1,
Matthew F. Koff1, Lisa Fortier2, Emme Castiglione3,
Ryan Saska3, Gino Bradica3, Kira Novakofski2,
Hollis G. Potter1
1Department of
Radiolgy & Imaging - MRI, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY,
USA; 2College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY, USA; 3Kensey Nash Corporation
Evaluation of cartilage repair by MRI is largely based on subjective impressions of gray scale images. Quantitative MRI sequences such as T1 and T2 mapping measure tissue relaxation to assess the proteoglycan content and collagen organization, respectively. This study evaluated cartilage repair in an equine model using morphologic and quantitative MRI. The repair sites demonstrated regions of variable signal intensity, and the quantitative data indicated peripheral incorporation with native tissue, and diminished proteoglycan content and collagen orientation in the center of the repair. This study demonstrates the feasibility of MR evaluation of a preclinical model of cartilage repair at clinically relevant field strengths.
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