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Abstract #4222

Evaluation of the glycosaminoglycan content in healthy and degenerated menisci with gagCEST at 3T

Benedikt Hager 1 , Vladimir Juras 1,2 , Olgica Zaric 1 , Vladimir Mlynarik 1 , Stefan Zbyn 1 , Pavol Szomolanyi 1,2 , and Siegfried Trattnig 1

1 High Field MR Centre, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, 2 Department of Imaging Methods, Institute of Measurement Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, Bratislava, Slovakia

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of Glycosaminoglycan Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (gagCEST) imaging for the detection of degenerated menisci. The results show that the average of asymmetries in gagCEST z-spectra summed over all offsets from 0.6 to 1.8 ppm was significantly lower (p < 0.02) in degenerated meniscal horns (2.2 5.5 %) compared to healthy meniscal horns (8.4 3.9%), which indicates a decrease in GAG content in the degenerated menisci. This study demonstrates that gagCEST imaging holds great potential as a biomarker to differentiate between healthy and degenerated menisci.

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