Objective: To assess repair tissue (RT) after the implantation of BioCartII, an autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) technique with a fibrin-hyaluronan polymer as scaffold. T2 mapping and delayed Gadolinium Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cartilage (dGEMRIC) were used to gain first data on the biochemical properties of BioCartII RT in vivo.
Methods: T2 mapping and dGEMRIC were performed at 3T in five patients (six knee joints) who had undergone ACI 15-27 months before. T2 maps were obtained using a pixel wise, mono-exponential non-negative least squares fit analysis. For quantitative T1 mapping a dual flip angle 3D GRE sequence was used and T1 maps were calculated pre- and post-contrast using IDL software. Subsequent region of interest analysis was carried out in comparison with morphologic MRI.
Results: A spatial variation of T2 values in both hyaline, normal cartilage (NC) and RT was found. Mean RT T2 values and mean NC T2 values did not differ significantly. Relative T2 values were calculated from global RT and NC T2 and showed a small range (0.84-1.07). The relative delta relaxation rates (rDeltaR1) obtained from the T1 maps had a wider range (0.77-4.91).
Conclusion: T2 mapping and dGEMRIC provided complementary information on the biochemical properties of the repair tissue. BioCartII apparently can provide RT similar to hyaline articular cartilage and may become a less-invasive alternative to ACI with a periosteal flap.
Copyright 2009. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.