Objective To investigate the diagnostic potential of combining 3.0T magnetic resonance imag-ing(MRI)T2 mapping sequences with serum nesfatin-1 levels for detecting early osteoarthritis(OA)in elderly knees.Methods 97 elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis(OA group)and 52 elderly individuals undergoing physical examinations(control group)were recruited from a hospital between May 2023 and May 2024.Based on X-ray findings,the OA group was further divided into an early-stage subgroup and a non-early-stage subgroup.All participants underwent 3.0T MRI T2 mapping sequence scans to measure the T2 values in the knee cartilage region,and serum nesfatin-1 levels were assessed.Differences in these indicators were compared between groups.Additionally,a receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was constructed to evaluate the diagnostic value of these parameters for early-stage knee OA in elderly individuals.Results Among 97 elderly patients with knee OA,35 cases were classified into the early-stage group,and 62 cases were categorized into the non-early-stage group.The T2 values in five cartilage regions of the knee and serum nesfatin-1 levels were significantly higher in the OA group compared to the control group(P<0.05).Moreover,these values were significantly lower in the early-stage group than in the non-early-stage group(P<0.05).The areas under the curve(AUC)for diagnosing early-stage OA using T2 values in knee cartilage regions and serum nesfatin-1 levels ranged from 0.774 to 0.871.Notably,the AUC for combined diagnosis reached 0.939(P<0.05).Conclusion 3.0T MRI using the T2 mapping sequence in combination with serum nesfatin-1 level detection demonstrates high diagnostic value for early OA in elderly patients with knee involvement.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic potential of combining 3.0T magnetic resonance imag-ing(MRI)T2 mapping sequences with serum nesfatin-1 levels for detecting early osteoarthritis(OA)in elderly knees.Methods 97 elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis(OA group)and 52 elderly individuals undergoing physical examinations(control group)were recruited from a hospital between May 2023 and May 2024.Based on X-ray findings,the OA group was further divided into an early-stage subgroup and a non-early-stage subgroup.All participants underwent 3.0T MRI T2 mapping sequence scans to measure the T2 values in the knee cartilage region,and serum nesfatin-1 levels were assessed.Differences in these indicators were compared between groups.Additionally,a receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was constructed to evaluate the diagnostic value of these parameters for early-stage knee OA in elderly individuals.Results Among 97 elderly patients with knee OA,35 cases were classified into the early-stage group,and 62 cases were categorized into the non-early-stage group.The T2 values in five cartilage regions of the knee and serum nesfatin-1 levels were significantly higher in the OA group compared to the control group(P<0.05).Moreover,these values were significantly lower in the early-stage group than in the non-early-stage group(P<0.05).The areas under the curve(AUC)for diagnosing early-stage OA using T2 values in knee cartilage regions and serum nesfatin-1 levels ranged from 0.774 to 0.871.Notably,the AUC for combined diagnosis reached 0.939(P<0.05).Conclusion 3.0T MRI using the T2 mapping sequence in combination with serum nesfatin-1 level detection demonstrates high diagnostic value for early OA in elderly patients with knee involvement.