• Samir Sur, Tallal Charles Mamisch, Timothy Hughes, and Young-Jo Kim.
• Children's Hospital Boston, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2009 Oct 1; 30 (4): 896-900.

PurposeTo determine the feasibility of using a high resolution isotropic three-dimensional (3D) fast T1 mapping sequence for delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) to assess osteoarthritis in the hip.Materials And MethodsT1 maps of the hip were acquired using both low and high resolution techniques following the administration of 0.2 mmol/kg Gd-DTPA(2-) in 35 patients. Both T1 maps were generated from two separate spoiled GRE images. The high resolution T1 map was reconstructed in the anatomically equivalent plane as the low resolution map. T1 values from the equivalent anatomic regions containing femoral and acetabular cartilages were measured on the low and high resolution maps and compared using regression analysis.ResultsIn vivo T1 measurements showed a statistically significant correlation between the low and high resolution acquisitions at 1.5 Tesla (R(2) = 0.958, P < 0.001). These results demonstrate the feasibility of using a fast two-angle T1 mapping (F2T1) sequence with isotropic spatial resolution (0.8 x 0.8 x 0.8 mm) for quantitative assessment of biochemical status in articular cartilage of the hip.ConclusionThe high resolution 3D F2T1 sequence provides accurate T1 measurements in femoral and acetabular cartilages of the hip, which enables the biochemical assessment of articular cartilage in any plane through the joint. It is a powerful tool for researchers and clinicians to acquire high resolution data in a reasonable scan time (< 30 min).(c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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