Diagnostic Value of Pericruciate Fat Pad Measurement by MRI in Patients With Knee Articular Cartilage Injury

Aims/Background The diagnosis and treatment of knee joint injuries is an important medical topic. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology can aid in the clear visualization of the knee joint's internal structure. The correlation of pericruciate fat pad (PCFP) grading with cartilage injuries offers guidance in condition assessment and treatment. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the value of MRI measurement of PCFP in the diagnosis and assessment of patients with knee cartilage injuries. Methods A total of 210 patients who underwent knee MRI examination in our hospital from January 2022 to June 2024 were retrospectively selected. All MRI examinations were conducted in accordance with a set of unified parameter standards, and the general data of patients were collected and analyzed. The relationship between PCFP grading and injury of various parts was analyzed, and the efficacy analysis of PCFP grading in diagnosing injury was analyzed. Results The comparison of the infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP)_Fat Fraction (FF) value, PCFP_FF value, and PCFP_Transverse Relaxation Time (T2) value between the two groups of patients revealed significant differences (p < 0.05). The results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that the FF value and T2 value of PCFP were independent influencing factors for knee cartilage injury (p < 0.05). According to Pearson correlation results, PCFP was positively correlated with injuries to the medial femoral ankle, medial compartment, and lateral femoral ankle (r = 0.293, 0.335, 0.277, p < 0.05). Using arthroscopy results as the gold standard, we found that the PCFP grading-based diagnosis had a sensitivity of 92.86% (130/140), a specificity of 95.71% (67/70), and an accuracy of 93.81% (197/210). In terms of different grades, PCFP grading has an accuracy rate of 95.17% in grade 0 diagnosis, 93.55% in grade 1, 95.71% in grade 2, 90.00% in grade 3, and 77.77% in grade 4. Conclusion MRI measurement of PCFP is highly sensitive, specific and accurate in the diagnosis of patients with knee articular cartilage injury, with a high accuracy in grading injuries, which is helpful for clinical diagnosis.