Contrast-enhanced MRI of periarticular soft-tissue changes in experimental arthritis of the rat

This study was to determine if manipulation of magnetic resonance signal intensity by means of an intravenously injected paramagnetic contrast agent is useful for the detection and characterization of periarticular inflammation. Arthritis was induced in 20 rats by means of intradermal injection of Freund's complete adjuvant. MR imaging was performed with a resistive magnet operating at 0.35 T. A double spin-echo technique with TE's of 28 and 56 ms and TR's of 0.5 and 2.0 s was used. The hindpaws of the adjuvant-injected rats were imaged on Day 8, Day 11, or Day 15 following injection of the adjuvant. The images were obtained in the transverse plane before and after intravenous injection of gadolinium-DTPA (0.2 mmol/kg). Because of their long T2 relaxation time, inflammatory lesions were characterized by high MR signal intensity on precontrast images obtained with long TR and long TE (T2-weighted images). On the other hand, because of their long T1 relaxation time, the inflammatory lesions were of relatively low intensity and not easily recognized on precontrast images obtained with short TR and short TE (T1-weighted images). Postcontrast T1-weighted images were also sensitive in detecting periarticular inflammation as a result of T1 shortening by the gadolinium-DTPA. However, in our particular model, the data did not indicate any greater MR sensitivity for detecting arthritis by means of gadolinium-DTPA enhancement.