MRI is more accurate than CT for patient-specific total knee arthroplasty.

Abstract

Previous reports have stated that MRI is less accurate than CT for patient specific guide creation in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Twenty-three TKAs were performed with CT-based guides and 27 with MRI-based guides. A mechanical axis through the central third of the knee was achieved in 88.9% of MRI-guided TKA versus 69.6% of CT-guided TKA (p=0.07). There were nine component outliers in the CT group (39.1%) and two in the MRI group (7.4%, p=0.00768). The relative risk of having an outlier using a CT-based guide was 5.28 times that of an MRI-based guide. Superior overall alignment and fewer outliers were achieved with the use of MRI compared with CT. MRI is the best imaging modality for surgeons wishing to utilize patient specific guides for TKA.