Abstract #2271

DTI can monitor changes in articular cartilage after a mechanically induced injury

Uran Ferizi¹, Ignacio Rossi², Oran Kennedy², Thorsten Kirsch², Jenny Bencardino¹, and Jose Raya¹

¹Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States, ²Orthopaedic Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States

The development of novel treatment strategies that would prevent joint replacement surgery at young age, as a result of PTOA, is critical. Hours after non-contact rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, high concentrations of PG and type II collagen fragments are found in the synovial fluid. DTI has emerged as an imaging biomarker that can assess both PG content and collagen architecture with greater accuracy than T2 or Na imaging. The current interpretation of DTI measurements is that changes in the level of proteoglycans (PG) affect the mean diffusivity (MD) index from the DTI, while the collagen structure affects the fractional anisotropy (FA).
This study examines the feasibility of DTI, by using biomechanics for simulating a controlled cartilage damage. We find that DTI metrics are sensitive to the early changes in the cartilage as a result of injury. Specifically, the correlations of the mean diffusivity (MD) are statistically significant, but those of fractional anisotropy (FA) are not. The additional validation with histology, as well as a clinical scanning environment make these results important in the translation of DTI to clinical practice.

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