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Association Between UTE-MRI T2* Relaxation Times and Symptoms During Exercise Therapy for Patellar Tendinopathy
Stephan J. Breda1, Robert-Jan de Vos2, Dirk Poot1, Gabriel Krestin1, Juan A. Hernandez-Tamames1, and Edwin Oei1
1Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2Orthopaedics, Erasmus Univerity Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
A longitudinal decrease in T2* relaxation times quantified using 3D UTE MRI was associated with clinical improvement in athletes performing exercise therapy for patellar tendinopathy.

A) Axial 3D-UTE images of the proximal patellar tendon in a patient with patellar tendinopathy.

B) Selected voxels for tissue-specific T2* analysis in the degenerative tissue of the patellar tendon. Mean T2* decreased from 19.9±7.3 ms (baseline) to 17.2±5.8 ms (12 weeks) to 16.8±4.9 ms (24 weeks).

C) Mono-exponential T2* maps, on a scale from dark blue (short T2* relaxation times) to red (long T2* relaxation times).

D) Bi-exponential fitting maps, displaying the percentage of short T2* components on a scale from dark blue (0% short T2* components) to red (100% short T2* components).


Relation between the change in T2* relaxation times and symptom severity. Symptom severity was assessed using the validated VISA-P questionnaire (scale 0-100), where 100 represents no pain, unrestricted function and maximum ability to play sports.