Association of gastrocnemius tendon calcification with chondrocalcinosis of the knee.

OBJECTIVE

Chondrocalcinosis of the knee is a common radiological finding in the elderly. However, visualization of chondrocalcinosis may be difficult in patients with advanced cartilage loss. The purpose of this study was to determine sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of gastrocnemius tendon calcification that might serve as a radiographic marker of chondrocalcinosis in patients with painful knees.

DESIGN AND PATIENTS

We prospectively evaluated 37 knee radiographs in 30 consecutive patients (29 men, 8 women; mean age 67 years, age range 37-90 years) with painful knees who had radiographic evidence of chondrocalcinosis. The frequency of fibrocartilage, hyaline cartilage, and gastrocnemius tendon calcification was determined. For a control group, we evaluated knee radiographs in 65 consecutive patients with knee pain (54 men, 11 women; mean age 59 years, age range 40-93 years) who had no radiological signs of chondrocalcinosis. The frequency of gastrocnemius tendon calcification in the control group was determined.

RESULTS

Gastrocnemius tendon calcification was 41% sensitive, 100% specific, and 78% accurate in predicting chondrocalcinosis. The gastrocnemius tendon was calcified on 15 of 37 (41%) radiographs in the experimental group and on 0 of 67 radiographs in the control group. In the chondrocalcinosis group, 23 (62%) had posterior hyaline cartilage calcification, 14 (38%) had anterior hyaline cartilage calcification, 31 (84%) had medial meniscus calcification, and 36 (97%) had lateral meniscus calcification.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results show that gastrocnemius tendon calcification is an accurate radiographic marker of chondrocalcinosis in patients with knee pain.