Purpose or Case Report: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a magnetic resonance imaging technique that measures the diffusion of water molecules restricted by cellular structures, providing insights into tissue microarchitecture. In the physeal metaphyseal complex (PMC), columns of cartilage and newly formed bone restrict water diffusion primarily along the longitudinal axis. This study aims to delineate physeal DTI parameters—such as tract volumes—in young children. By establishing early developmental benchmarks, we address a gap in pediatric musculoskeletal DTI literature and assess the potential of DTI in monitoring growth patterns.
Methods & Materials: This poster involves 47 healthy children (24 females, 23 males; mean age 9.35 sd: 2.41 years, range 3–14 years) who underwent conventional knee MRI scans which included DTI sequences. DTI metrics (including fractional anisotropy (FA), tract length, and volume of the distal femur, proximal tibia and fibula) were measured and correlated with anthropometric assessments such as bone age, height, and weight. To validate the findings of our younger patients, we compared femur and tibia volumes between patients aged 10 years and older from our cohort and a control group from another institution running the same sequence on a magnet from a different vendor.
Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in femur volume (MPS mean: 7.50 sd: 2.16 cc; CUMC mean: 8.89 ± 3.34 cc; P = 0.9296) or tibia volume (MPS mean: 4.34 sd: 1.58 cc; CUMC mean: 4.44 ± 1.80 cc; P = 0.2358) between MPS patients and healthy controls aged 10 years and older. Correlations between bone volumes and anthropometric measures were observed within the entire cohort, indicating consistent growth patterns.
Conclusions: This study establishes early developmental benchmarks for femur and tibia volumes using DTI in young children. The similarity in bone volumes between MPS patients and healthy controls aged 10 years and older supports the validity of using DTI bone volume measurements for growth assessment across different populations and magnets. These findings suggest that DTI-based bone volume metrics can be reliably used to monitor growth patterns in children, potentially enhancing pediatric growth monitoring and intervention strategies.