Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026
In situ Compressive Loading and Correlative Noninvasive Imaging of the Bone-periodontal Ligament-tooth Fibrous Joint
Published on: March 7, 2014
Ligaments of the Lisfranc joint in MRI: 3D-SPACE (sampling perfection with application optimized contrasts using
Erika J Ulbrich1, Veronika Zubler, Reto Sutter
1Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. erikajulbrich@googlemail.com
Purpose:
To compare the detection rate and visibility of the ligaments in the Lisfranc joint with a single 3D (-SPACE) MR sequence and three orthogonal PD fat-saturated sequences.
Materials And Methods:
Thirty-one asymptomatic feet and 15 patients with posttraumatic pain in the Lisfranc joint were evaluated with a 3D-SPACE-sequence (0.5 mm section thickness, acquisition time 10:22 min, secondary reformations) and three orthogonal PD fs sequences (2 mm section thickness, 9:20 min). The Lisfranc-ligament, the dorsal and plantar tarsometatarsal ligaments (TMT), the dorsal, interosseous, and plantar intermetatarsal ligaments (IMT) (24 ligaments for each foot) were assessed.
Results:
In asymptomatic feet, 692 ligaments were detected with the SPACE sequence, thereof 90.6 % exhibited normal signal, and most (96.9 %) were completely visible on one single image. A total of 659 ligaments were detected with the PD fs sequence, thereof 86.6 % yielded normal signal, and 28.5 % were completely visible on one single image. In patients, 327 ligaments were detected with SPACE, thereof 50.6 % appeared completely visible with high signal. On PD fs, 308 ligaments were detected, 42.2 % of the ligaments had high signals.
Conclusions:
The ligaments of the Lisfranc joint are better detected with a single 3D-SPACE sequence and secondary reformations than with three orthogonal PD fs sequences.
