Association of prevalent and incident knee cartilage defects with loss of tibial and patellar cartilage: A longitudinal study

Abstract

Objective. To describe the association between prevalent and incident knee cartilage defects and loss of knee cartilage in male and female adults.Methods. A convenience sample of 325 subjects (mean age 45 years; age range 26-61 years) was evaluated at baseline and ϳ2 years later. Knee cartilage volume, cartilage defect scores (0-4 scale), and joint surface area were determined using T1-weighted fatsuppression magnetic resonance imaging techniques. Height, weight, and radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis were measured by standard protocols.Results. Multivariable analysis revealed that baseline cartilage defect scores at the medial tibia, lateral tibia, and patella had a dose-response association with the annual rate of change in knee cartilage volume at the corresponding site (␤ ‫؍‬ -1.3% to -1.2% per grade; P < 0.05 for all comparisons). In addition, an increase in knee cartilage defect score (change of >1) was associated with higher rates of knee cartilage volume loss at all sites (␤ ‫؍‬ -1.9% to -1.7% per year; P < 0.01 for all comparisons). Furthermore, a decrease in the knee cartilage defect score (change of less than or equal to ؊1) was associated with an increase in knee cartilage volume at all sites (␤ ‫؍‬ 1.0% to 2.7% per year; P < 0.05 for all comparisons).Conclusion. Prevalent knee cartilage defects are predictive of compartment-specific cartilage loss over 2 years. Both increases and decreases in knee cartilage defects are associated with changes in knee cartilage volume, which implies a potential for reversal of knee cartilage loss.

T1rho, T2 and focal knee cartilage abnormalities in physically active and sedentary healthy subjects versus early OA patients—a 3.0-Tesla MRI study

“…Reviewing the literature, quantification of cartilage morphometry yields a variety of results: some studies have demonstrated that MRI of the knee cartilage is a sensitive way of quantifying cartilage loss in OA [8,9,53,[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63], whereas other authors could not demonstrate a [46,64]. This might be in part explained by the increase of water content and consequently swelling of the cartilage in the early stages of OA leading to an enlargement of the cartilage volume.…”

Static knee alignment is associated with the risk of unicompartmental knee cartilage defects

“…Cartilage defects, which are irregularities on the surface of the usually smooth articular cartilage, are becoming recognized as important early determinants of potential arthritic change, particularly at the knee. 2,3 These defects are graded according to the depth of loss of cartilage thickness. Clinically, knee cartilage defects have been correlated with pain and functional impairment, [4][5][6] and have been shown to predate localized cartilage loss and disease progression, 7 including the risk of total knee replacement.…”

Correlation Between Changes in Global Knee Structures Assessed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Radiographic Osteoarthritis Changes Over Ten Years in a Midlife Cohort

“…MRI. MRI of the right knee was performed as described previously (12)(13)(14). Knees were imaged in the sagittal plane on a 1.5T whole-body MR unit (Picker International), using a commercial transmit-receive extremity coil at the baseline visit and at the 2-year and 10-year followup visits.…”

“…The presence of any cartilage defect was defined as any score $2. Intraobserver reliability (expressed as intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]) ranged from 0.89-0.90 (13). Interobserver reliability was assessed in 50 MR images and yielded an ICC of 0.85-0.90 (13).…”