January 2014 Vol. 2 No. 1

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Full Length Research Paper

The diagnostic value of 0.2 Tesla low-field open MR imaging in the detection of meniscal tears

Cihan Solak¹, Bozkurt Gulek*², Gokhan Soker³, Omer Kaya³, Mehmet Sirik⁴ and Eda Soker⁵

¹Guney Adana Hospital Department of Radiology, Adana, Turkey
²Namik Kemal University Department of Radiology, Tekirdag, Turkey
³Numune Teaching and Research Hospital Department of Radiology, Adana, Turkey
⁴Adiyaman University Department of Radiology, Adiyaman, Turkey
⁵Numune Teaching and Research Hospital Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Adana, Turkey

*Corresponding Author's E-mail: bozkurtgulek@yahoo.com; Tel: +90-533-435-4686

Accepted January 20, 2014

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic efficiency of 0.2 Tesla (T) low field-strength open MRI imaging in the diagnosis of meniscal tears of the knee. 44 knees of 44 patients who had applied to the Orthopedics department with several clinical complaints and physical findings regarding their knees were imaged by a low-field open MR scanner. The results were compared with those obtained from the arthroscopic examinations of the same patients, performed during the first week following their MRI examinations. MRI studies revealed medial meniscal tears in 33 (75 %), and lateral meniscal tears in 10 (22.70 %) cases. Arthroscopy proved medial meniscal tears in 32 (72.70 %), and lateral meniscal tears in 10 (22.70 %) of the cases, respectively. 3 false-positives and 2 false-negatives in the medial meniscal, and 2 false-positives and 2 false-negatives in the lateral meniscal series were detected. The sensitivity values were 93.75 % and 80 %, the specificity values were 75 % and 94.12 %, the accuracy values were 88.63 % and 90.90 %, the positive predictive values were 90.90 % and 80.80 %, and the negative predictive values were 81.81 % and 94.12 %, for the medial and lateral menisci, respectively. Our results have confirmed that low-field open MR scanners may be used effectively and reliably in the diagnosis and evaluation of meniscal tears of the knee.

Keywords: Meniscopathy, meniscal tear, MRI, low-field MRI