Quantitative CT of the knee in the IMI-APPROACH osteoarthritis cohort: Association of bone mineral density with radiographic disease severity, meniscal coverage and meniscal extrusion

• Published in: Bone (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2023-03, Vol.168, p.116673-116673, Article 116673
• Main Authors: Heiss, Rafael, Laredo, Jean-Denis, Wirth, Wolfgang, Jansen, Mylène P., Marijnissen, Anne C.A., Lafeber, Floris, Lalande, Agnes, Weinans, Harrie H., Blanco, Francisco J., Berenbaum, Francis, Kloppenburg, Margreet, Haugen, Ida K., Engelke, Klaus, Roemer, Frank W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bone Density; Bone mineral density; Humans; Knee; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Meniscus; Multicenter study; Osteoarthritis; Osteoarthritis, Knee - diagnostic imaging; Patient Acuity; Quantitative CT; Tibia - diagnostic imaging; Tomography, X-Ray Computed
• ISSN: 8756-3282; 1873-2763
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bone.2023.116673

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent chronic condition. The subchondral bone plays an important role in onset and progression of OA making it a potential treatment target for disease-modifying therapeutic approaches. However, little is known about changes of periarticular bone mineral density (BMD) in OA and its relation to meniscal coverage and meniscal extrusion at the knee. Thus, the aim of this study was to describe periarticular BMD in the Applied Public-Private Research enabling OsteoArthritis Clinical Headway (APPROACH) cohort at the knee and to analyze the association with structural disease severity, meniscal coverage and meniscal extrusion. Quantitative CT (QCT), MRI and radiographic examinations were acquired in 275 patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). QCT was used to assess BMD at the femur and tibia, at the cortical bone plate (Cort) and at the epiphysis at three locations: subchondral (Sub), mid-epiphysis (Mid) and adjacent to the physis (Juxta). BMD was evaluated for the medial and lateral compartment separately and for subregions covered and not covered by the meniscus. Radiographs were used to determine the femorotibial angle and were evaluated according to the Kellgren and Lawrence (KL) system. Meniscal extrusion was assessed from 0 to 3. Mean BMD differed significantly between each anatomic location at both the femur and tibia (p