Abstract #3469

UTE MRI and Biomechanical Properties of Normal and Pathologic Human Menisci

Won C. Bae¹, Reni Biswas¹, Ja Young Choi², Robert Healey³, Jiang Du¹, Darryl D. D'Lima⁴, Sheronda Statum¹, Christine B. Chung¹,⁵

¹Dept. of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States; ²Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; ³Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States; ⁴Shiley Center for Orthopaedic Research and Education at Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA, United States; ⁵Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, La Jolla, CA, United States

Establishing a relationship between biomechanical properties and long (SE T2) and short (UTE T2*) T2 MR properties will be useful for clinical evaluation of meniscal injuries and degeneration. Using grossly normal and pathologic menisci, we found that short T2 properties are markedly altered in pathology than long T2, and that correlation of indentation vs. short T2 properties is also effected by pathology, unlike the long T2 properties. UTE T2* sequence may be useful for early evaluation of human meniscus involving biomechanical changes.