Abstract
Background: Reduction in gadolinium (Gd) contrast agents is wanted due to the uncertainty of the potential side effects. Purpose: To investigate whether it is possible to reduce the contrast dose from conventional double dose to single dose when increasing the field strength from 1.5-T to 3-T for separating early cartilage degeneration from healthy cartilage, assessed by delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC). Material and Methods: Nine patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), Kellgren–Lawrence grade (KLG) 1–4, were recruited from an ongoing weight loss cohort study. dGEMRIC was performed at 3-T using single (0.1 mmoI/kg) and double (0.2 mmoI/kg) doses of intravenous (i.v.) Gd-DTPA2-. Regions of interest (ROls) were drawn around the posterior weight-bearing femoral knee cartilage in lateral and medial compartments. In five medial compartments ROIs could not be drawn due to severe degeneration of cartilage. T1-relaxation times were compared to previously published values from 1.5-T and to non-contrast values from 3-T. Results: Mean dGEMRIC T1-relaxation time in the lateral compartment was 769 ms for single dose vs. 561 ms for double dose (P < 0.0001); and 685 ms for single dose vs. 454 ms for double dose (P = 0.004) in the medial compartment. Conclusion: We found a dose-response relationship between single and double doses of Gd-DTPA2- using 3-T in knee OA patients, similar to the findings at 1.5-T. Compared to the T1-relaxation time at 3-T without contrast (1240 ms), this further separation between OA and normal cartilage indicates that “single dose” dGEMRIC could be sufficient for cartilage health assessment at 3-T.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Acta Radiologica |
Volume | 60 |
Issue number | 6 |
Pages (from-to) | 749-754 |
ISSN | 0284-1851 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2019 |