Institute of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China.
Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2020 Oct;24(19):9815-9823. doi: 10.26355/eurrev_202010_23191.
The purpose of this study was to compare the differences of degenerative characteristics of medial, lateral regions, femoral, patellar, and tibia parts of the knee joint in the early stage of knee osteoarthritis (OA).
A total of 66 patients with early-stage knee OA and 22 healthy volunteers who have no knee-related clinical symptoms were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. T2 mapping and 3D dual-echo images were acquired with a 3.0T MR scanner. The degenerative changes of the articular cartilage were quantified by a T2 mapping and cartilage thicknesses analysis. Any structural changes were conducted using the Whole Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (WORMS).
In patients with knee OA, the thicknesses of medial cartilages were significantly thinner than lateral ones (2.13 mm vs. 2.34 mm, p<0.0001), but with higher T2 values (40.38 ms vs. 38.4 ms, p<0.0001) and WORMS scores (12.12 vs. 0.47, p=0.004). No significant differences were observed between medial and lateral cartilage in the healthy volunteers. The T2 values of the femoral (p<0.001) and patellar (p=0.012) cartilages of OA patients were higher than that of the healthy controls. Within OA group, the T2 values of femoral (p<0.0001) and patellar (p<0.0001) cartilages were higher than tibial ones. Moreover, the WORMS scores of femoral (p=0.001) and patellar (p<0.0001) cartilages were higher than that of the tibial ones.
This study demonstrates that the medial compartment and patellofemoral knee joint degenerate more severely in patients with early-stage knee OA.
本研究旨在比较膝关节早期骨关节炎（OA）患者膝关节内侧、外侧区域、股骨、髌骨和胫骨部分的退行性特征差异。
本横断面研究纳入了 66 例早期膝关节 OA 患者和 22 例无膝关节相关临床症状的健康志愿者。使用 3.0T MR 扫描仪采集 T2 映射和 3D 双回波图像。通过 T2 映射和软骨厚度分析定量评估关节软骨的退行性变化。使用全器官磁共振成像评分（WORMS）评估任何结构变化。
在膝关节 OA 患者中，内侧软骨的厚度明显比外侧软骨薄（2.13mm 比 2.34mm，p<0.0001），但 T2 值（40.38ms 比 38.4ms，p<0.0001）和 WORMS 评分（12.12 比 0.47，p=0.004）较高。健康志愿者中内侧和外侧软骨之间没有显著差异。OA 患者的股骨（p<0.001）和髌骨（p=0.012）软骨的 T2 值高于健康对照组。在 OA 组中，股骨（p<0.0001）和髌骨（p<0.0001）软骨的 T2 值高于胫骨。此外，股骨（p=0.001）和髌骨（p<0.0001）软骨的 WORMS 评分高于胫骨。
本研究表明，在膝关节早期 OA 患者中，内侧间室和髌股关节退变更严重。
