Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2025
Destabilization of the Medial Meniscus and Cartilage Scratch Murine Model of Accelerated Osteoarthritis
Published on: July 6, 2022
Dual-energy CT virtual non-calcium: an accurate method for detection of knee osteoarthritis-related edema-like marrow
Heng Zhao1,2, Hui Li1,3, Xia Xie1
1The First Affiliated Hospital, Department of Radiology, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, Hunan, China.
Objectives:
To evaluate the performance of a dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) virtual non-calcium (VNCa) technique in the detection of edema-like marrow signal intensity (ELMSI) in patients with knee joint osteoarthritis (OA) compared to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Methods:
The study received local ethics board approval, and written informed consent was obtained. DECT and MRI were used to examine 28 knees in 24 patients with OA. VNCa images were generated by dual-energy subtraction of calcium. The knee joint was divided into 15 regions for ELMSI grading, performed independently by two musculoskeletal radiologists, with MRI as the reference standard. We also analyzed CT numbers through receiver operating characteristics and calculated cut-off values.
Results:
For the qualitative analysis, we obtained CT sensitivity (Readers 1, 2 = 83.7%, 89.8%), specificity (Readers 1, 2 = 99.5%, 99.5%), positive predictive value (Readers 1, 2 = 95.3%, 95.7%), and negative predictive value (Readers 1, 2 = 97.9%, 98.7%) for ELMSI. The interobserver agreement was excellent (κ = 0.92). The area under the curve for Reader 1 and Reader 2 was 0.961 (95% CI 0.93, 0.99) and 0.992 (95% CI 0.98, 1.00), respectively. CT numbers obtained from the VNCa images were significantly different between regions with and without ELMSI (p < .001).
Conclusions:
VNCa images have good diagnostic performance for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of knee osteoarthritis-related ELMSI.
