![]() | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract MRI allows imaging of the knee joint as a whole organ not only the articular cartilage. It can detect osteophytic changes, subchondral cyst like lesions, bone marrow edema, meniscal tear and meniscal degeneration. These helps in scoring of the knee OA as a whole joint. It has been clearly demonstrated that these of MRI does lower the rate of arthroscopy, and that it is probably a cost-effective intervention (4). Three-dimensional gradient recalled echo (WATS sequence) imaging is considered the standard technique for morphologic evaluations of knee cartilage because it offers higher sensitivity than 2D techniques and provides excellent depiction of cartilaginous defects, comparable to that achieved with arthroscopy (5). A GRE sequence (WATS) is available on most MR imaging systems and is useful whenever the evaluation of cartilage is required. WATS sequence increases the signal intensity of cartilage in relation to that of adjacent tissues and joint contents such as fluid (6). Our study comprise 25 patients. Our patients were 8 male (32%) and 17female (68%) (female more affected than male). Their age ranged from 20 to 70 years with mean age 48 years and most common age group affected were from 50 to 60 years. Patients were suffering from knee pain, knee swelling, joint instability and movement limitation. MRI and 3D WATS were done for all cases. The result of our study include: Most common MRI finding were cartilage defect, seen in (76%) of the cases. Grade II cartilage defect (partial-thickness defect less than 50%) were the most common grade, seen in (32%) of the cases. Grade 0 osteophyte formation was the most common grade, seen in (52%) of the cases. |