Variations in radiographic appearance of articular cartilage of knee joints in persons of 35 to 65 years of age

Authors

  • Himani Pulivarthi Medical Graduate, Mamata Medical College, Khammam, Telangana State
  • Vasantha Maddikunta Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad, Telangana State
  • P. Koteswara Rao Retired Civil Surgeon, Medical Officer in Urban Health Training Centre, Apollo Medical College, Hyderabad, TS

Keywords:

Articular cartilage, Joint space width, Osteophytes, Subchondral sclerosis, Cysts and osteoarthritis

Abstract

Background:Osteoarthritis is a slowly progressive degenerative disease characterized by gradual loss of articular cartilage. Osteoarthritis is not a normal process of ageing processes. Age related changes are distinct from osteoarthritic changes but when coupled with certain precipitating factors like obesity, muscle weakness and neurological dysfunction may play an important role in the causation of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis occurrence appears to increase with patient’s age in a non-linear fashion. The prevalence of disease increases dramatically after the age of 50 years, likely because of age related alterations in collagen and proteoglycan synthesis coupled with diminished nutrient supply to the cartilage.

Methods:In this paper presenting the naked eye assessment of radiographic appearance of articular cartilage of knee joints of 100 persons (both men and women) of 35 to 65 years of age with symptoms like pain and stiffness of the joint.

Results:Parameters like changes in the joint space width, the presence or absence of osteophytes and subchondral sclerosis and cysts were noted.  The correlation between the patient’s age, sex, symptoms and radiological appearance were observed.

Conclusion:Osteoarthritis has a higher prevalence and more often generalized in women than in men. Before the age of 50 years, the incidence of osteoarthritis is low and men have a slightly higher prevalence than women, but after the age of 50 years, the disease becomes more frequent and women have a much higher prevalence with a female to male ration of about 12:1. The reason for this is sex difference in cartilage volume.

 

References

Williams PL, Warwick R, Dyson M, Bannister LH. Articular cartilage. Williams PL, Warwick R, Dyson M, Bannister LH, eds. In: Gray’s anatomy. 37th ed. London: Churchill Livingstone; 1989: 3.

Lawrence RC, Hochberg MC, Kelsey JL, McDuffie FC, Medsger TA, Felts WR, et al. Estimates of the prevalence of selected arthritic and musculoskeletal diseases in the United States. J Rheumatol. 1989;16:427-41.

Hunter DJ, Zhang YQ, Niu JB, Tu X, Amin S, Clancy M, et al. The association of meniscal pathologic changes with cartilage loss in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2006 Mar;54;795-801.

Daniel L. Swagerty Jr, Deborah Hellinger. Radiographic assessment of osteoarthritis. Am Fam Physician. 2001 Jul;64(2):279-87.

Buckwalter JA, Mankin HJ. Articular cartilage II. Degeneration and osteoarthrosis, repair, regeneration. J Bone Joint Surg. 1997;79A(4):612-32.

Sengupta M1, Zhang YQ, Niu JB, Guermazi A, Grigorian M, Gale D, et al. High signal in knee osteophytes is not associated with knee pain. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2006 May;14(5):413-7.

Ding C, Cicuttini F, Scott F, Mike G, Jones G. Sex differences in knee cartilage volume in adults: role of body and bone size, age and physical activity. Rheumatology;2003;42(11):1317-23.

Steven D. Feinberg. The knee: meniscal injuries and treatment, 2000. Available at: http://www.dir.ca.gov/.

Kijowski R, Blankenbaker DG, Stantan PT, Fine JP, De Smet AA. Radiographic findings of osteoarthritis versus arthroscopic findings of articular cartilage degeneration in the tibiofemoral joint. Radiology. 2006 Jun;239(3):818-24.

Koster IM, Oei EH, Hensen JH, Boks SS, Koes BW, Vroegindeweij D, et al. Predictive factors for new onset or progression of knee osteoarthritis one year after trauma: MRI follow-up in general practice. Eur Radiol. 2011 Jul;21(7):1509-16.

Downloads

Published

2017-01-05

How to Cite

Pulivarthi, H., Maddikunta, V., & Rao, P. K. (2017). Variations in radiographic appearance of articular cartilage of knee joints in persons of 35 to 65 years of age. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 3(1), 22–26. Retrieved from https://www.msjonline.org/index.php/ijrms/article/view/1201

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles