Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in Evaluating Articular Cartilage Changes Over Time in Patients With Osteoarthritis of the Knee
Osteoarthritis (OA), a common degenerative disorder involving the synovial joint, is characterized by a variety of pathological findings. One of the main aspects of OA is the damage to articular cartilage, which can be assessed using various imaging techniques, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this systematic review, we aim to evaluate the accuracy of MRI in assessing knee cartilage changes over time in patients with OA.
MRI is a highly sensitive technique for detecting subchondral bone abnormalities and full-thickness cartilage lesions. It can show cartilage changes with high accuracy in patients with knee OA over time. The potential of MRI to identify articular cartilage injuries in patients with OA and its importance to the evaluation of articular cartilage lesions along with other available techniques will be discussed.
To conduct this systematic review, articles published on English were searched in databases such as CINAHL, Ovid, Elsevier, Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. Keywords used in the search included MRI, OA, Cartilage Lesion, and Imaging Techniques. A total of 169 articles were retrieved in the initial search, and after reviewing the titles, abstracts, and full-texts, seven were enrolled in the systematic review.
All studies aimed to evaluate knee cartilage changes in patients with knee OA. The results of all studies, except one, indicated the high accuracy of MRI to identify knee cart软骨 changes over time. MRI technique can show cartilage changes with high accuracy in patients with knee OA over time.
The potential benefits of using MRI in detecting knee cartilage changes over time include reduced need for invasive measures, such as surgery. Despite several years of using MRI, its application is not common yet and needs more elaboration and informing.
This systematic review has some limitations, including the lack of access to all articles in this field considering non-English papers and the lack of access to dissertations, which may contain more accurate information., this systematic review provides adequate, accurate, and strong evidence to prove the potential of MRI to identify articular cartilage injuries in patients with OA and its importance to the evaluation of articular cartilage lesions along with other available techniques. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to explore the potential of other imaging techniques in the diagnosis of OA.
Keywords: magnetic resonance imaging, osteoarthritis, knee cartilage, cartilage damage, imaging techniques
