T2 mapping of human femorotibial cartilage with turbo mixed MR imaging at 1.5 T: feasibility.

The feasibility of a high-spatial-resolution technique for mapping T1 and T2 in articular cartilage in the human knee was evaluated. The technique, turbo mixed magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, is based on a pulse sequence in which inversion-recovery and spin-echo measurements are interleaved. The sequence was first validated in a phantom experiment in which T1 and T2 values obtained with an accepted spectroscopic technique were correlated with those obtained by using a clinical magnetic resonance imager with the turbo mixed technique. T2 maps were obtained with turbo mixed imaging in 25 volunteers (17 men, eight women; mean age, 30.8 years; range, 23-45 years). A high correlation (r = 0.99) was found between T1 and T2 values obtained at spectroscopy and those obtained at turbo mixed imaging. Relative differences in the range of cartilage relaxation times between the two techniques were less than 20%. Turbo mixed imaging in human volunteers showed T2 cartilage relaxation times that corresponded with previously published data. Turbo mixed imaging, thus, is feasible for T2 mapping of cartilage.

Correlation between power Doppler ultrasonography and clinical severity in Achilles tendinopathy.

Twenty-five patients with chronic Achilles tendinopathy were clinically and ultrasonographically evaluated. A positive correlation existed between power Doppler ultrasonography (PDU) and tendon thickness (r=0.63, p<0.001) and patient's age (r=0.40, p<0.05). A negative correlation existed between PDU and a functional test (number of toe raises to pain) (r=-0.57, p<0.005) and one recorded item of the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment Achilles score (VISA-A questionnaire, item 6: jumping capability) (r=-0.46, p<0.05). Three patients had no detectable blood flow on PDU. PDU of Achilles tendons does not seem to be strictly related to symptoms but rather to functionality and chronicity of tendinopathy as indicated by toe-raises testing, jumping capability, patient age and tendon thickening.