The current recommendation by the AAOS in the 2010 clinical practice guidelines for the use of MRI to diagnose a periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is “inconclusive” given the lack of evidence to support its use. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of MRI with metal reduction artifact sequencing in diagnosing a periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) after total hip arthroplasty (THA). 176 patients who underwent MRI with multi-acquisition variable resonance image combination (MAVRIC) to reduce metal artifact for a painful THA between the years of 2009–2013 were retrospectively evaluated. All MRIs were read by one of four radiologists with extensive experience in interpreting MRIs after THA. All MRIs were performed using a 1.5 Tesla magnet. Of the 176 patients examined, 16 patients were found to have a deep periprosthetic joint infection using Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) criteria after the MRI was performed. MRI reads were classified as either positive (read as “evidence of active infection” or “suspicious for infection”) or negative (read as no evidence of infection). Only one patient who had a positive MRI read was excluded because of loss to followup after the MRI was performed.Introduction
Methods
