Hemophilia is an X-linked recessive disease, which mainly affects males. This disease results in bleeding events targeting mainly the joints, which leads to arthropathy and cartilage degeneration. Human cartilage is primarily composed of water; as a result, past studies have noted that magnetic resonance imaging through T2 mapping can hold great promise for assessment of early changes in the cartilage. Hence this cross-sectional study seeks to validate T2 mapping as a tool for studying children and adolescents with hemophilic arthropathy. T2 relaxation times of hemophilia and healthy ankle/knee joints were compared, and found to have significant differences in mean T2 relaxation times. Furthermore, significant negative associations between age and T2 relaxation times were noted in both groups. Therefore, this investigation suggests that future studies may be able to use T2 mapping as a tool to better understand early hemophilic arthropathy in children and adolescents.M.Sc
