ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the value of fat-saturated three-dimensional fast imaging with steady state procession(FS-3D-FISP)sequence in detecting hyaline cartilage defects in osteoarthritis in rabbits.Methods Osteoarthritis was induced in eighteen male rabbits by injecting papain into the left knee joints.The same volume of sterile saline solution was injected into right knee joints as controls.MRI of knee joints was done at 1,2 and 4 weeks after injection using FS-3D-FISP sequence.The the rabbits were killed and pathohistological examinations of the femoral condylars and tibial plateaus were performed.The cartilage changes were observed by MR image according to the Outerbridge method and by pathology using Collins staging.Results There was closely correlation between MR imaging and pathology in grading of cartilage injury in grade I～II and grade III～IV(P＜0.001).Conclusion FS-3D-FISP can evaluate accurately the degree of articular injury.