Medial versus lateral condyle bone mineral density ratios in a cross‐sectional study: A potential marker for medial knee osteoarthritis severity

Abstract

Objective. To assess the association of bone mineral density (BMD) of the femoral and tibial condyles with knee pain and disease severity in women with symptomatic medial knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods. We enrolled 192 women (ages 41-90 years) between April 2007 and March 2011. The subjects were divided into 2 groups according to joint space narrowing (JSN) on weight-bearing radiographs. BMD of the lumbar spine, proximal femur, and knee condyles was measured. Medial and lateral condyle BMDs of the femur and tibia as well as the medial versus lateral condyle BMD ratios were measured. Results. Mean medial condyle BMDs, medial versus lateral condyle BMD ratios, and visual analog scale (VAS) pain in both the femur and the tibia were higher in the obliteration group compared with the narrowing group (P < 0.001 for all). A significant positive correlation was observed between the femoral and tibial condyles in the following parameters: medial condyle BMDs, lateral condyle BMDs, and medial versus lateral condyle BMD ratios (r ‫؍‬ 0.791-0.844). In both the femur and the tibia, medial versus lateral condyle BMD ratios had significant positive correlations with femorotibial angle, medial osteophytes, lateral osteophytes, medial JSN, and VAS pain, and had significant negative correlations with the Knee Society pain and function scores. Conclusion. Although this study was a cross-sectional study, the femoral and tibial medial versus lateral condyle BMD ratios increased with more severe knee pain and might be a potential marker for monitoring disease severity in women with symptomatic medial knee OA.

Preoperative Periarticular Knee Bone Mineral Density in Osteoarthritic Patients Undergoing TKA

“…The main reason for this might be that the LBA of 95% of the knees studied here passed through the condyles at less than 50% of the tibial plateau level. Because OA usually develops first on the medial condyle, progressing to the lateral condyle as the condition worsens, our data support the conclusions of previous studies that reported a positive correlation between OA grade and BMD values [6, 10-13]. Second, the BMD values of the femoral sides were higher than those of the tibial sides.…”

“…Akamatsu et al . [10] also showed a significant positive correlation between the femoral and tibial condyles in 2 groups according to joint space narrowing in the following parameters: medial condyle BMDs, lateral condyle BMDs, and medial versus lateral condyle BMD ratios, supporting our results.…”

“…The preoperative BMD values of the femur and tibia measured in the present study were within the range of previously reported values [12, 14, 15, 17-19, 22, 23] in the femur (0.512-1.70) and tibia (0.500-1.366). In addition, the BMD M/L ratio was also within the range of previously reported values [5, 6, 10] for osteoarthritic knee joints. Because there were significant correlations of the preoperative BMDs both between the femur and tibia for the medial and lateral compartments, and between the medial and lateral compartments for the femur and tibia, similar subchondral bone remodeling under various load-bearing conditions may occur in each compartment of the femur and tibia in each patient.…”

Association between bone marrow lesions and bone mineral density of the proximal tibia in end-stage osteoarthritic knees

“…The MTP/LTP BMD ratio was above 1.0, as previously reported 19 , 21 , 22 . A higher MTP/LTP ratio was weakly correlated with higher BML scores, especially in the MTP.…”

“…This study demonstrated detailed age-related changes in BMD of the proximal tibia, which was reduced in women aged > 65 years and not in men. Previous reports have shown that BMD of the proximal tibia was moderately correlated with distal femoral 19 , 20 , proximal femoral, and lumbar BMDs 20 . Bone strength around the knee joint can be estimated using systemic BMD.…”