Osteoarthritis year in review 2019: imaging

Abstract

PET-MRI". Articles were reviewed to determine relevance based upon the following criteria: 1) study involved human subjects with OA or risk factors for OA and 2) study involved imaging to evaluate OA disease status or OA treatment response. Relevant articles were ranked according to scientific merit, with the best publications selected for inclusion in the narrative report. Results: The PubMed search revealed a total of 1257 articles, of which 256 (20.4%) were considered relevant to OA imaging. Two-hundred twenty-six (87.1%) articles involved the knee joint, while 195 (76.2%) articles involved the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The proportion of published studies involving the use of MRI was higher than previous years. An increasing number of articles were also published on imaging of subjects with joint injury and on deep learning application in OA imaging. Conclusion: MRI and other imaging modalities continue to play an important role in research studies designed to better understand the pathogenesis, progression, and treatment of OA.

Bisphosphonate Use Is Protective of Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis Progression Among those With Low Disease Severity and Being Non-Overweight: Data From the Osteoarthritis Initiative

“…Thus, these patients may have had microdamage unable to be assessed via current imaging technologies. For this reason, there has been a growing interest in using CT in OA (regular multidetector CT, weight-bearing CT, dual energy CT (39)(40)(41) ) to better elucidate the three-dimensional abnormalities in trabecular and cortical bone of the knee. The promise of even higher-resolution CT scanners (42) will enable enhanced studies of bisphosphonate effectiveness on improving subchondral bone quality.…”

Correlation between the subchondral bone marrow lesions and cartilage repair tissue after matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte implantation in the knee: a cross-sectional study

“…In addition, it should be noted that subchondral BMLs may also occur secondary to other issues. The cartilage RT after MACI may not be sufficient to protect the underlying subchondral bone from mechanical forces and thus lead to the progressive formation of subchondral BMLs (9). In the present study, the cartilage RT-T2* relaxation time of 30 patients was 23.02 ms after MACI on MRI follow-ups, which was significantly lower (P < 0.0001) than that of the healthy cartilage of the femoral trochlear in the same knee, which was 34.46 ms.…”

“…The contribution of the subchondral bone in the development and progression of OA has long been recognized (9), but its role in cartilage repair procedures has only recently attracted more attention (10). Basic experimental studies have reported that complex interplay exists between the articular cartilage RT and its underlying subchondral bone, the more general term "bone marrow lesion" (BML) has become standardized terminology (11).…”

Clinical outcome and risk factor predictive for failure of autologous PRP injections for low-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis

“…Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease affecting 250 million people worldwide that leads to gradual degradation of articular cartilage, degenerative changes of subcondral bone, reduced viscosity of the articular fluid and chronic inflammation of synovial membrane. 1 The progressive aging of population inevitably causes an increasing incidence of OA and a negative impact on the quality of life of affected patients. 2 The current conservative strategies for the treatment of knee OA include physical therapy, weight loss, oral and topical NSAIDs and intra-articular injections.…”