Associations Between Slower Walking Speed and T1ρ Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Femoral Cartilage Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

• Published in: Arthritis care & research (2010) 2018-08, Vol.70 (8), p.1132-1140
• Main Authors: Pfeiffer, Steven, Harkey, Matthew S., Stanley, Laura E., Blackburn, J. Troy, Padua, Darin A., Spang, Jeffrey T., Marshall, Stephen W., Jordan, Joanne M., Schmitz, Randy, Nissman, Daniel, Pietrosimone, Brian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age Factors; Anterior cruciate ligament; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries - diagnostic imaging; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries - surgery; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction - methods; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction - rehabilitation; Arthroscopy; Body mass index; Cartilage (articular); Cartilage, Articular - diagnostic imaging; Cartilage, Articular - pathology; Female; Femur; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Injury Severity Score; Knee; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Meniscus; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Recovery of Function; Sex Factors; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; Walking Speed - physiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2151-464X; 2151-4658
• DOI: 10.1002/acr.23477

Objective To determine whether walking speed, collected at 6 and 12 months following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), is associated with inter‐extremity differences in proteoglycan density, measured via T1ρ magnetic resonance imaging, in tibiofemoral articular cartilage 12 months following ACLR. Methods Twenty‐one individuals with a unilateral patellar‐tendon autograft ACLR (10 women and 11 men, mean ± SD age 23.9 ± 2.7 years, mean ± SD body mass index 23.9 ± 2.7 kg/m2) were recruited for participation in this study. Walking speed was collected using 3‐dimensional motion capture at 6 and 12 months following ACLR. The articular cartilage of the medial femoral condyle (MFC) and lateral femoral condyle and medial and lateral tibial condyles was manually segmented and subsectioned into 3 regions of interest (anterior, central, and posterior) based on the location of the meniscus in the sagittal plane. Inter‐extremity mean T1ρ relaxation time ratios (T1ρ ACLR extremity / T1ρ contralateral extremity) were calculated and used for analysis. Pearson product‐moment correlations were used to determine associations between walking speed and inter‐extremity differences in T1ρ relaxation time ratios. Results Slower walking speed 6 months post‐ACLR was significantly associated with higher T1ρ relaxation time ratios in the MFC of the ACLR extremity 12 months following ACLR (posterior MFC, r = −0.51, P = 0.02; central MFC, r = −0.47, P = 0.04). Similarly, slower walking speed at 12 months post‐ACLR was significantly associated with higher T1ρ relaxation time ratios in the posterior MFC ACLR extremity (r = −0.47, P = 0.04) 12 months following ACLR. Conclusion Slower walking speed at 6 and 12 months following ACLR may be associated with early proteoglycan density changes in medial femoral compartment cartilage health in the first 12 months following ACLR.