The influence of meniscal pathology in the incidence of knee osteoarthritis: a review

Importance Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common cause of pain and disability in older persons, affecting approximately 14 million individuals in the USA. Meniscal damage is also common in this age group with a prevalence of 35% in a middle-aged and older community sample and 82% in persons with evid...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Skeletal radiology 2023-11, Vol.52 (11), p.2045-2055
Main Authors: Mass, Hanna, Katz, Jeffrey N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arthritis
Biomechanics
Damage
Imaging
Injuries
Knee
Load bearing elements
Medical research
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Medicine, Experimental
Meniscus
Nuclear Medicine
Orthopedics
Osteoarthritis
Pathology
Radiology
Review Article
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Summary:Importance Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common cause of pain and disability in older persons, affecting approximately 14 million individuals in the USA. Meniscal damage is also common in this age group with a prevalence of 35% in a middle-aged and older community sample and 82% in persons with evidence of radiographic knee osteoarthritis. This paper systematically reviews evidence on the association of meniscal pathology and incident radiographic knee OA. Observations We included 15 articles, published between 2013 and 2021, assessing the relationship between meniscal pathology and OA incidence (Fig.  1 ). The menisci are crucial load-bearing structures, and the resulting increase in biomechanical stress due to meniscal damage increases the risk for OA development. While some discrepancies are present in the literature, a clinically meaningful association has been generally established between the presence of a meniscal tear or meniscal extrusion and subsequent development of incident OA. Of note, larger radial tears as well as complex and more severe tears exhibit the strongest association with the development of incident OA. The relationship between other features of meniscal morphology—such as meniscal volume and meniscal coverage—and incident OA is less clearly documented. Conclusions and relevance The early detection of meniscal pathology can be used to trigger preventative and therapeutic strategies designed to avert or delay knee OA in this at-risk population.
ISSN:0364-2348
1432-2161
DOI:10.1007/s00256-022-04233-z