Objective: Measurement of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) needs to be accurate and sensitive to change for risk monitoring. The purpose of this study is to determine the CT slice location where VAT area can best reflect changes in VAT volume and body weight. Methods: 60 plain abdominal CT images from 30 males [mean age (range) 51 (41–68) years, mean body weight (range) 71.1 (101.9–50.9) kg] who underwent workplace screenings twice within a 1-year interval were evaluated. Automatically calculated and manually corrected areas of the VAT of various scan levels using “freeform curve” region of interest on CT were recorded and compared with body weight changes. Results: The strongest correlations of VAT area with VAT volume and body weight changes were shown in a slice 3 cm above the lower margin of L3 with r values of 0.853 and 0.902, respectively. Conclusion: VAT area measurement at a single level 3 cm above the lower margin of the L3 vertebra is feasible and can reflect changes in VAT volume and body weight. Advances in knowledge: As VAT area at a CT slice 3 cm above the lower margin of L3 can best reflect interval changes in VAT volume and body weight, VAT area measurement should be selected at this location.

Background: The goal of osteochondral mosaicplasty (mosaicplasty) against osteochondritis dissecans of the humeral capitellum (capitellar OCD) is to allow patients to return to their sports activities without functional disturbance of the affected elbow. Consequently, the rehabilitation protocol and the interval before returning to sports activities must be established. Although surgeons need this type of data for establishing sequential alterations of grafts in the elbow, no such data have been published. Hypothesis: The findings of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) improve with increasing time after mosaicplasty for capitellar OCD. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Ten young male athletes with advanced lesions of capitellar OCD, treated with mosaicplasties, underwent MRI scans at 3, 6, and 12 months, postoperatively. The surgical technique involved obtaining small-sized cylindrical osteochondral grafts from the lateral periphery of the femoral condyle at the level of the patellofemoral joint and transplanting them to the capitellar lesion. The MRI findings were semiquantitatively assessed according to the scoring system of Henderson et al (4, normal; 16, no repair). Results: At 12 months, all patients returned to their competitive level of sports without any disturbances of the operated elbow. Fluid surrounding the graft was found in all patients at 3 months and 4 patients at 6 months. The grafts were all well seated within the recipient sites, with no MRI evidence of graft loosening at 12 months. The overall MRI scores significantly improved from 3 to 12 months. Conclusion: The MRI findings indicate that the graft incorporation to the surrounding tissues occurs around or after 6 months, postoperatively. This finding suggests that rehabilitation precautions be taken for up to 6 months after mosaicplasty for young athletes with capitellar OCD.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to examine the feasibility of whole-body joint MRI for detecting systemic joint synovitis and for analyzing the relationship between the hands and systemic joint involvement in patients with unclassified arthritis who later develop early rheumatoid arthritis (RA).MATERIALS AND METHODS. The study included 17 patients (five men and 12 women; median age, 65 years [range, 38–77 years]; median symptom duration, 3 months [range, 1–6 months]). MRI of the systemic joints was performed for patients with unclassified arthritis without radiographic evidence of RA and who were diagnosed as having RA according to 1987 revised classification criteria within 2 years.RESULTS. The chosen 4-point scale for image quality was moderate to excellent. MRI findings of systemic joints were in accordance with joint swelling and tenderness (chi-square test, p < 0.0001). Sixty percent (45/75) of hand joints and 67% (12/18) of systemic joints other than hands showed MR synovitis without swell...