Clinical Imaging Assessments of Knee Osteoarthritis in the Elderly: A Mini-Review

Abstract

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) in the elderly is one of the most common degenerative age-related joint diseases leading to typical degradation of articular cartilage with severe pain and limitation of joint motion. Its increasing prevalence due to the demographic development of the society has major implications for individual and public healthcare with the increasing necessity for clinical imaging assessment in a high number of individuals. Although conventional X-ray radiographs are widely considered as gold standard for the assessment of knee OA, in clinical and scientific settings they increasingly bare significant limitations in situations when high resolution and detailed assessment of cartilage is demanded. New imaging modalities are broadening the possibilities in knee OA clinical practice and are offering new insights to help for a better understanding of the disease. X-ray analysis in OA of the knee is associated with many technical limitations and increasingly is replaced by high-quality assessment using magnetic resonance imaging or ultrasonography both in clinical routine and scientific situations. These novel imaging modalities enable an in vivo visualization of the quality of the cartilaginous structure and bone as well as all articular and periarticular tissues. Therefore, the limitations of radiographs in knee OA assessment could be overcome by these techniques. This review article should provide an insight into the most important radiological features of knee OA and their systematic visualization with different imaging approaches that can be used in clinical routine.

Comparison of Diagnostic Performance of Semi-Quantitative Knee Ultrasound and Knee Radiography with MRI: Oulu Knee Osteoarthritis Study

“…Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common musculoskeletal degenerative disease. Prevalence of knee OA in aging populations is increasing worldwide leading to reduced quality of life and working disability which has major implications for healthcare and overall economy 1 2 . OA is no longer seen as a disease of “wear and tear” but rather conceptualized as a whole-organ disorder 3 .…”

Longitudinal association between foot and ankle symptoms and worsening of symptomatic radiographic knee osteoarthritis: data from the osteoarthritis initiative

“…This may because the participants who experienced this outcome were a smaller subset (n=79) of those who had knee pain worsening, and thus the model may not have had enough power to detect a relationship. Alternatively, it is possible that our measure of radiographic progression (minJSW) recorded using x-ray was not sensitive enough to detect structural deterioration 32 . The use of MRI measures may be more suitable to detect longitudinal joint changes not evident on x-ray.…”

Oral shea nut oil triterpene concentrate supplement ameliorates pain and histological assessment of articular cartilage deterioration in an ACLT injured rat knee osteoarthritis model

“…Additionally, OA treatment seeks to modify the underlying joint structure. However, measurements of OA structural changes using conventional radiographs are not well-defined, and the severity of radiographic changes may not be directly associated with patients’ clinical presentations [13–15]. The laboratory animal model of OA has been widely used to support the assessment of this therapeutic modification and the pathohistological changes of OA [16].…”