Audrey P Fan1, Feliks Kogan1, Aleema Patel1, Edwin HG Oei2, Andrew Quon1, and Garry E Gold1
1Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 2Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
This study investigates dynamic
uptake of [18F]-fluoride in bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and
osteophytes observed on MRI of patients with knee osteoarthritis. Through
kinetic modeling, we characterized rate constants of bone metabolism in bone
pathology relative to healthy bone. BMLs and higher-grade osteophytes showed
higher total bone metabolism Ki (P
< 0.01) and higher bone mineralization rate k3 (P < 0.01) relative to grade 1
osteophytes and normal bone. While a similar trend was observed for blood flow,
the differences from normal tissue were subtler suggests that rate of
mineralization k3 and not blood flow is a key driver of [18F]-fluoride
accumulation in OA lesions. These new physiological parameters may help
differentiate between different grades of OA lesions or identify which lesions
are active parts of the disease process.
