Original Article b-factors does not seem to provide any additional informa- tion on the visualised lateral tears. This may be due to a less spatial resolution of techniques in lateral sites and lat- eral menisci, or maybe due to a lower number of relevant lateral meniscal tears, as compared to medial meniscal tears. We believe that with advancement of MRI technolo- gy, with more experienced musculoskeletal radiologists and with further studies involving more patients, DWI and ADC mapping with different b-factors may become more impor- tant for the diagnosis of meniscal tears. Limitations of the research were as follows: the images obtained were of low quality due to a low spatial resolu- tion in DWI and ADC mapping. DWI and ADC mapping of meniscal tears were evaluated by one musculoskeletal radi- ologist, inter- and intraobserver variability of the results couldn’t be obtained, which might further affect the sen- sitivity and specificity of the research. With further tech- nological advancement, advanced hardware (coils), and increasing experience of musculoskeletal radiologists, the clinical application of DWI and ADC mapping in menis- cal tears diagnosis can be easily increased. About 30% of References: 1. Kocabey Y, Tetik O, Isbell WM et al: The value of clinical examination versus Magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of meniscal tears and anterior cruciate ligament rupture. Arthroscopy, 2004; 20(7): 696–700 2. Boxheimer L,Lutz AM, Zanetti M et al: Characteristics of displaceable and non-displaceable meniscal tears at kinematic MR imaging of the knee. Radiology, 2006; 238(1): 221–31 3. Rubin DA, Palmer WE: Imaging of the knee. IDKD, 2005: 26–38 4. Wolff AB, Pesce LL, Wu SJ et al: Comparison of spin echo T1W sequences versus fast spin-echo proton density-weighted sequences for evaluation of meniscal tears at 1.5 T. Skeletal Radiol, 2009; 38(1): 21–29 5. Ohishi T, Takahashi M, Abe M et al: The use of axial reconstructed images from three-dimensional MRI datasets for morphological diagnosis of meniscal tears of the knee. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg, 2005; 125(2): 622–27 6. Quinn SF, Brown TF: Meniscal tears diagnosed with MR imaging versus Arthroscopy: How reliable a standard is arthroscopy? Radiology, 1991; 181(12): 843–47 © Pol J Radiol, 2011; 76(1): 30-40 patients with meniscal tears underwent surgery and only 20 patients (20/74) had the histopathological verifica- tion. We could not confirm our data arthroscopically in most of the cases due to patients’ refusal to arthroscopic procedures. Conclusions In our research, the sensitivity and specificity of DWI and ADC mapping was calculated with the use of the routine knee MRI as a golden standard of meniscal tear diagnos- tics in non-operated patients. We studied the diagnostic performance of DWI and ADC mapping in 20 meniscal tears by using arthroscopic diagnosis as a standard refer- ence. Quantitative DWI and ADC mapping, especially with b-factor of 400 sec/mm2, may be an alternative imaging modality to the routine MR imaging sequences for visu- alisation of meniscal tears of the knee, especially in the medial site. These scans are relatively fast and despite their low spatial resolution, they should be easily used by an experienced musculoskeletal radiologists for detailed knee MR imaging 7. Englund M, Guermazi A, Gale D et al: Incidental meniscal findings on knee MRI I middle-aged and elderly persons. N Engl J Med, 2008; 359(11): 1108–15 8. Koenig JH, Ranawat AS, Umans HR et al: Meniscal root tears: Diagnosis and treatment. Arthroscopy, 2009; 25(9): 1025–32 9. Harper KW, Helms CA, Lambert HS et al: Radial meniscal tears: Significance, incidence and MR appearance. AJR, 2005; 185(4): 1429–34 10. MR Quinn SF, Brown TR, Szumowski J: Menisci of the knee: Radial imaging correlated with arthroscopy in 259 patients. Radiology, 1992; 185(11): 577–80 11. Rubin DA, Paletta GA: Current concepts and controversies in meniscal imaging.Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am, 2000; 8(3): 243–70 12. Charles-Edwards EM, De Souza NM: Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging and its application to cancer. Cancer Imaging, 2006; 6(1): 135 13. Mori S, Barker BP: Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging: Its principle and applications. The anatomical record (New Anat), 1999; 257: 102–43 40