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Defining radiographic osteoarthritis for the whole knee
D T Felson1, T E McAlindon, J J Anderson
1Boston University Arthritis Center, Massachusetts 02118, USA.
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
|July 1, 1997
Summary
For knee osteoarthritis, a radiographic definition including osteophytes or joint space narrowing with bony features best correlates with clinical symptoms. Adding lateral views improves diagnostic accuracy for radiographic osteoarthritis detection.
Area of Science:
- Orthopedics
- Radiology
- Rheumatology
Background:
- Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent joint disease.
- Accurate radiographic definitions are crucial for clinical studies and diagnosis.
- Current definitions may not fully capture clinical OA in the knee.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the radiographic feature or combination of features that best correlates with clinical knee osteoarthritis.
- To recommend a standardized definition of radiographic knee OA for research.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Framingham Osteoarthritis Study.
- Correlated clinical OA (frequent knee pain and crepitus) with various radiographic OA definitions.
- Analyzed weight-bearing anteroposterior (AP) and lateral knee radiographs.
Main Results:
- An osteophyte grade 2 or greater, or an alternate definition (osteophyte grade 2 or joint space narrowing grade 2 with a bony feature), showed the highest correlation with clinical OA.
- The alternate definition was selected as optimal via recursive partitioning analysis.
- Incorporating lateral views alongside AP views enhanced the diagnostic performance of radiographic definitions.
Conclusions:
- Radiographic knee OA can be defined by the presence of osteophytes grade 2 or greater.
- Alternatively, moderate to severe joint space narrowing with a co-occurring bony feature defines radiographic knee OA.
- These definitions, particularly the alternate one, are recommended for research studies.
