Comparison of MR-arthrography and CT-arthrography in hyaline cartilage-thickness measurement in radiographically normal cadaver hips with anatomy as gold standard

SummaryObjectiveTo compare magnetic resonance (MR)-arthrography and multidetector-spiral-computed-tomography (MDSCT)-arthrography in cartilage-thickness measurement, in hips without cartilage loss, with coronal anatomic slices as gold standard.MethodInstitutional review board permission to study cadavers of individuals who willed their bodies to science was obtained. Two independent observers measured femoral and acetabular cartilage thicknesses of 12 radiographically normal hips (six women, five men; age range, 52–98 years; mean age, 76.5 years), on MDSCT-arthrographic and MR-arthrographic reformations, and on coronal anatomic slices, excluding regions of cartilage loss. Inter- and intraobserver reproducibilities were determined. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test differences between MR-arthrographic and MDSCT-arthrographic measurement errors compared to anatomy.ResultsBy MR-arthrography, cartilage was not measurable at approximately 50% of points on sagittal and transverse sections, compared to 0–6% of the points by MDSCT-arthrography. In the coronal plane, the difference between MDSCT-arthrographic and MR-arthrographic measurement errors was not significant (P = 0.93).ConclusionIn the coronal plane, MR-arthrography and MDSCT-arthrography were similarly accurate for measuring hip cartilage thickness.