Assessment of Hip Joint Articular Cartilage Composition in People with Marfan Syndrome Utilizing T1ρ and T2 Mapping

People with Marfan syndrome (MFS) exhibit a high incidence of hip joint pain and earlier onset of osteoarthritis than those without MFS. Imaging-related biomarkers of hip joint health that provide an earlier indication of hip cartilage degeneration in the MFS population have yet to be assessed.

We sought to determine whether people with MFS exhibit biochemical alterations of proteoglycan content and collagen structure within the hip joint cartilage compared to individuals without MFS as documented by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including both T1ρ and T2 mapping.

Fourteen individuals with MFS and 14 healthy, asymptomatic controls matched for age, sex, and body mass index underwent radiographic imaging and unilateral hip quantitative MRI including both T1ρ and T2 mapping to evaluate cartilage proteoglycan content and collagen structure.

People with MFS showed significantly higher T1ρ values in the anterior superior acetabular cartilage compared to the asymptomatic controls. No significant between-group differences were noted in the femoral T1ρ values or in any of the T2-related values.

This cross-sectional, observational study found elevated anterior superior acetabular cartilage T1ρ values, indicating a lower proteoglycan content within this specific sub-region, in individuals with MFS. The anterior superior acetabular cartilage may be prone to degeneration and may contribute to the high rates of early onset osteoarthritis observed in the MFS population. Our results suggest T1ρ cartilage imaging may be a potential biomarker of early cartilage degradation in the MFS population. Clinically, T1ρ imaging may allow for better informed decisions regarding interventional timing to prevent the onset and progression of hip osteoarthritis in individuals with MFS.

Level III, prognostic study.