SALINE VERSUS GADOLINIUM-ENHANCED MAGNETIC-RESONANCE ARTHROGRAPHY OF PORCINE CARTILAGE

Rationale and Objectives. The authors compared saline and dilute gadop entetate dimeglumine as injectants for magnetic resonance (MR) arthrog raphy. Methods. Sixty-three lesions were created on the joint surfaces of six pig patellas, MR arthrography(1.5 T) was performed with the sp ecimens in saline and then in 2 mmol gadopentetate dimeglumine by usin g fat-saturated two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) sequen ces. Two musculoskeletal radiologists independently interpreted the im ages. Results. At 2D MR arthrography, reader 1 performed equally well with saline and gadolinium solutes, whereas reader 2 had better sensit ivity with the saline solute (P < .05); interobserver agreement was eq uivalent for saline and gadolinium solutes. With 3D MR arthrography, r eader 2 performed equally well with saline and gadolinium solutes, whe reas reader 1 had better sensitivity (P < .0001) but poorer specificit y (P < .001) with the gadolinium solute; interobserver agreement was s ignificantly better for saline than for gadopentetate dimeglumine (P < .05). Conclusion. In this initial evaluation, there was no clear adva ntage to using gadolinium-enhanced MR arthrography over saline MR arth rography for detecting lesions in porcine hyaline cartilage.