Magnetic resonance-enhanced high-resolution three-dimensional water-selective cartilage sequence visualization of hip vessels in children.

PURPOSE: Hip vessel examination provides key information on many hip-related pediatric diseases, and it has an important role in the evaluation of femoral head (FH) blood supply and diagnosis of avascular necrosis (AVN). The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of MR-enhanced high-resolution three-dimensional water-selective cartilage (3D-WATSc) sequence in visualizing the vessels of the hip joint in children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Children with hip disease were randomly enrolled prospectively at our hospital from January 2021 to August 2022. We performed our institution's hip MRI protocol and enhanced high-resolution 3D-WATSc sequence. The 3D-WATSc images were reconstructed and analyzed, and images of the normal hip were categorized into grades 0-3. The abnormal hip images were compared with those of the normal side using the χ2 test. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients with unilateral hip abnormalities were included in this study. The cartilaginous vascular canal and ossification centre vessels of normal FHs were observed in 18 patients (75%) and met the grade 3 standard. An abnormal cartilaginous canal was observed in 16 patients (67%); meanwhile, 18 patients (75%) had abnormal extrachondral vessels. Comparison of high-resolution 3D-WATSc images with those of the normal side provided effective abnormal vascular information in 95.8% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Enhanced high-resolution 3D-WATSc can visualize the blood vessels of the hip in children. This may provide a new method for the vascular study of various pediatric hip diseases.