Pointwise Encoding Time Reduction With Radial Acquisition MRI-Derived Osteochondral Thickness Ratio for Assessing Early Knee Osteoarthritis: A Prospective Case-Control Study.
6 affiliations
- 1Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, CHN.
- 2Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, CHN.
- 3Translational Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, CHN.
- 4Ultrasound Medicine, Jinhua People's Hospital, Jinhua, CHN.
- 5Clinical Biospecimen, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, CHN.
- 6Radiology, Nanyang Central Hospital, Nanyang, CHN.
Abstract
Background
Early knee osteoarthritis (EKOA) may present with persistent symptoms despite mild radiographic changes. This prospective case-control study evaluated whether a pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition (PETRA)-derived osteochondral thickness ratio (F ratio) could characterize structural differences between patients with EKOA and healthy controls.Methods
Participants underwent weight-bearing radiography, conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and 3.0 T PETRA MRI. The F ratio was calculated as the sum of mean superficial cartilage, deep cartilage, and osteochondral junction thicknesses divided by mean subchondral bone plate thickness. We compared F ratios and individual layer measures between 59 participants with EKOA and 54 healthy controls, assessed within-sample discrimination using receiver operating characteristic analysis with bootstrap internal validation, and evaluated inter-reader and intra-reader reproducibility in 23 participants.Results
The median F ratio was lower in the EKOA group than in healthy controls (1.998 (interquartile range, 1.604-2.567) versus 2.692 (2.401-3.000); P < 0.001). The adjusted geometric mean ratio was 0.776 (95% confidence interval, 0.703-0.857; P < 0.001). Among knees with measurable superficial cartilage, superficial cartilage thickness was lower in EKOA (0.944 ± 0.298 mm versus 1.331 ± 0.285 mm; P < 0.001), whereas subchondral bone plate thickness was greater (1.521 ± 0.468 mm versus 1.320 ± 0.270 mm; false-discovery-rate-adjusted q = 0.019). Superficial cartilage was non-identifiable in 16 of 59 EKOA knees (27.1%) and in no controls (P < 0.001). The apparent area under the curve for EKOA discrimination was 0.766 (bootstrap 95% confidence interval, 0.674-0.851); the optimism-corrected area under the curve was 0.765. Inter-reader and intra-reader intraclass correlation coefficients for the F ratio were 0.988 and 0.993, respectively.Conclusions
The PETRA MRI-derived F ratio was lower in EKOA and showed high measurement reproducibility with moderate within-sample discrimination. This measure may serve as a supplementary descriptor of osteochondral structural phenotype in patients with persistent knee pain and mild radiographic change. External and longitudinal validation is required before clinical diagnostic use.
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BibTeX
@article{ma2026pointwise,
title = {{Pointwise Encoding Time Reduction With Radial Acquisition MRI-Derived Osteochondral Thickness Ratio for Assessing Early Knee Osteoarthritis: A Prospective Case-Control Study.}},
author = {Hao Ma and Qianyi Zhao and Jiaxin Yin and Yuhao Zhao and Jiawen Tang and Jiatuo Zhang and Shizhou Tang and Fengzhang Zhu and Zheng Yan and Xianglin Zhang},
journal = {Cureus},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.7759/cureus.116678},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42923987},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Pointwise Encoding Time Reduction With Radial Acquisition MRI-Derived Osteochondral Thickness Ratio for Assessing Early Knee Osteoarthritis: A Prospective Case-Control Study.
AU - Hao Ma
AU - Qianyi Zhao
AU - Jiaxin Yin
AU - Yuhao Zhao
AU - Jiawen Tang
AU - Jiatuo Zhang
AU - Shizhou Tang
AU - Fengzhang Zhu
AU - Zheng Yan
AU - Xianglin Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
JO - Cureus
DO - 10.7759/cureus.116678
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42923987
AB - Background Early knee osteoarthritis (EKOA) may present with persistent symptoms despite mild radiographic changes. This prospective case-control study evaluated whether a pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition (PETRA)-derived osteochondral thickness ratio (F ratio) could characterize structural differences between patients with EKOA and healthy controls.Methods Participants underwent weight-bearing radiography, conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and 3.0 T PETRA MRI. The F ratio was calculated as the sum of mean superficial cartilage, deep cartilage, and osteochondral junction thicknesses divided by mean subchondral bone plate thickness. We compared F ratios and individual layer measures between 59 participants with EKOA and 54 healthy controls, assessed within-sample discrimination using receiver operating characteristic analysis with bootstrap internal validation, and evaluated inter-reader and intra-reader reproducibility in 23 participants.Results The median F ratio was lower in the EKOA group than in healthy controls (1.998 (interquartile range, 1.604-2.567) versus 2.692 (2.401-3.000); P < 0.001). The adjusted geometric mean ratio was 0.776 (95% confidence interval, 0.703-0.857; P < 0.001). Among knees with measurable superficial cartilage, superficial cartilage thickness was lower in EKOA (0.944 ± 0.298 mm versus 1.331 ± 0.285 mm; P < 0.001), whereas subchondral bone plate thickness was greater (1.521 ± 0.468 mm versus 1.320 ± 0.270 mm; false-discovery-rate-adjusted q = 0.019). Superficial cartilage was non-identifiable in 16 of 59 EKOA knees (27.1%) and in no controls (P < 0.001). The apparent area under the curve for EKOA discrimination was 0.766 (bootstrap 95% confidence interval, 0.674-0.851); the optimism-corrected area under the curve was 0.765. Inter-reader and intra-reader intraclass correlation coefficients for the F ratio were 0.988 and 0.993, respectively.Conclusions The PETRA MRI-derived F ratio was lower in EKOA and showed high measurement reproducibility with moderate within-sample discrimination. This measure may serve as a supplementary descriptor of osteochondral structural phenotype in patients with persistent knee pain and mild radiographic change. External and longitudinal validation is required before clinical diagnostic use.
SN - 2168-8184
ER -