Rates of meniscal tearing in patients with chondrocalcinosis

Internal derangement of the knee secondary to a meniscal tear has been recently observed in patients with chondrocalcinosis. However, there is no data about the prevalence of meniscal tears associated to chondrocalcinosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to know the rates of meniscal tear in patients with chondrocalcinosis. The study population was a cohort of 1031 consecutive outpatients who underwent arthroscopy of the knee. Meniscal tear was present in 322 patients and 709 patients had intact meniscus. The specific subgroup of interest included 58 knees from 58 patients (25 males and 33 females) with arthroscopic evidences of chondrocalcinosis. Patients with chondrocalcinosis had significantly higher rates of meniscal tear compared to those without chondrocalcinosis (74.1 versus 28.7%, p < 0.001). An absolute and attributable risk of tear was 74 and 8%, respectively, in knees with chondrocalcinosis. Relative risk of tear in patients with chondrocalcinosis versus without chondrocalcinosis was 2.58 (95% confidence interval 2.16-3.10). In patients with chondrocalcinosis and meniscal tear, the duration of the disease was about 5.3 (range 1-8) years versus 4.9 (range 3-7) years in those patients with chondrocalcinosis and an intact meniscus (p = 0.75). In conclusion, our findings support that chondrocalcinosis predispose meniscal tearing even in the absence of any traumatic event. Further longitudinal studies are needed to characterize the impact of chondrocalcinosis and meniscal vulnerability.