Quantitative MRI assessment of knee joint cartilage in pediatric hemophilic arthropathy using automated cartilage segmentation technique

Motivation: To offer a quantitative imaging marker for monitoring of hemophilic joints. Goal(s): To assess knee joint cartilage changes in children with hemophilic arthropathy(HA) using automated segmentation and explore their connection with Hemophilia Joint Health Scores(HJHS). Approach: MRI were conducted on children with HA and healthy children using advanced techniques and automated cartilage segmentation to evaluate knee joint cartilage and their associations with HJHS. Results: Significant differences in T1 and T2* values were found between HA and healthy controls, with positive correlations between T1 values in specific regions and HJHS, along with negative correlations between cartilage volume in specific regions and HJHS. Impact: MRI techniques such as T1 mapping and T2* mapping hold promise for quantitatively assessing early-stage knee joint cartilage damage in HA, and show identifiable correlations with HJHS.