The Comparative Study of MRI Sequences in Sacroiliac Joint Cartilage of 10-20 Years Old Health Volunteers

Objective To study the MRI features of normal articular cartilage in sacroiliac joint of 10 to 20 years old healthy volunteers. Materials and Methods Thirty volunteers (21 males,9 females) without symptoms of spondyloarthropathy were taken MRI examination. One young female corpse were as control group. All the health volunteers and corpse were taken MRI scan with several sequence (T1WI-TSE,T1WI-SPIR,T2WI-TSE,T2WI-SPIR,T2WI-FFE,PROSET,3D-WATS).The corpse specimen was carried out histology study to evaluate the microscopic appearances of the cartilage of sacroliliac joint. The score of each sequence in showing cartilage of sacroiliac joint were evaluated by double blind method. Results 3D WATS, PROSET sequence showed the articular cartilage in sacroiliac joint clearer than other MRI sequences.The articular cartilage in sacral and iliac side could be identified individually by 3D WATS and PROSET sequence, which scores in showing cartilage of sacroiliac joint were statisticly higher than that of other sequences The score was 4.92 in 3D WATS and 4.80 in PROSET, but no statistic significance between them. The features of sacroiliac joint in 3D WATS and PROSET were low signal of cortex, high signal of cartilage and low signal between the sacral and iliac cartilage. Conclusion 3D WATS and PROSET are the optimal sequences in showing cartilage of sacroiliac joint. The articular cartilage in sacral and iliac side and the space between them could be discerned on 3D WATS and PROSET sequences.