Comparison of Quantitative Cartilage T2 Measurements and Qualitative MR Imaging between Professional Ballet Dancers and Healthy Volunteers

Purpose: To compare qualitative magnetic resonance (MR) images and quantitative T2 measurements of the tibiotalar cartilage between ballerinas and healthy volunteers. Materials and Methods: Institutional review board approval for this study and informed consent (from all participants) were obtained. MR examinations were performed by using a 3-T MR imaging system with 21 professional female ballet dancers and 20 healthy female volunteers. Two musculoskeletal radiologists qualitatively measured tibiotalar cartilage T2 values in the anterior zones, middle zones, and posterior zones of cartilage. MR findings were also qualitatively analyzed in both groups. Results: The tibial cartilage T2 values measured in the anterior and posterior zones and the talar cartilage T2 values measured in all three zones were significantly higher in the ballerina group than in the control group (P < .001). The posterior zones exhibited the highest T2 values among the three tibiotalar cartilage zones in both groups (P < .001). A significant between-group difference was evident in terms of the presence of posterior soft-tissue edema (P = .001) and flexor hallucis longus tenosynovitis (P <.001). Conclusion: The findings showed a trend toward increasing cartilage T2 values in ballerinas when compared with control subjects, indicating that quantitative T2 measurement may potentially be used as a noninvasive imaging tool for early detection of cartilage lesions in the tibiotalar joint.