Recent advances in changes in the infrapatellar fat pad on MRI to predict osteoarthritis of the knee

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a very common degenerative disease occurring in middle-aged and elderly patients. Early diagnosis of knee OA is currently difficult, and it is particularly important to find new predictors of early knee OA. The infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP), as an adipose tissue, plays a role in the occurrence and development of knee OA. Currently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology can sensitively observe changes in the volume, signal intensity, and perfusion of the IPFP. Observation of IPFP changes can play a certain role in predicting the occurrence of early knee OA. In this narrative review, we take the MRI study of knee OA as the background, outline the physiological-pathological basis of IPFP, and summarize the current applications and latest progress of MRI in observing IPFP. we sorted out the role of IPFP changes in MRI images for the development of knee OA and the role of IPFP in the differential diagnosis of rheumatoid OA. It is hoped that some indicators for predicting the development of early knee OA as well as imaging methods can be found.