Osteoarthritis of the knee: correlation of subchondral MR signal abnormalities with histopathologic and radiographic features

Subchondral signal abnormalities are often present on magnetic resonance (MR) images of patients with osteoarthritis, but no study correlating these changes with histopathology has been published. We selected nine consecutive patients with clinical and radiographic diagnosis of moderate to severe os...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Skeletal radiology 1994-08, Vol.23 (6), p.445-448
Main Authors: BERGMAN, A. G, WILLEN, H. K, LINDSTRAND, A. L, PETTERSSON, H. T. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Cartilage, Articular - pathology
Diseases of the osteoarticular system
Female
Humans
Knee Joint - diagnostic imaging
Knee Joint - pathology
Knee Joint - surgery
Knee Prosthesis
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Medical sciences
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis - diagnosis
Osteoarthritis - diagnostic imaging
Osteoarthritis - pathology
Osteoarthritis - surgery
Radiography
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Summary:Subchondral signal abnormalities are often present on magnetic resonance (MR) images of patients with osteoarthritis, but no study correlating these changes with histopathology has been published. We selected nine consecutive patients with clinical and radiographic diagnosis of moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee scheduled to undergo joint replacement surgery, and performed MR imaging and conventional radiographs preoperatively. After surgery, the resected portions of the femur and tibia underwent gross and microscopic examination, and the findings were correlated with the corresponding findings on the imaging studies. Subchondral MR signal abnormalities of the femur or tibia were present in seven of the nine patients, with intermediate signal on T1-weighted images and low or isointense signal on T2-weighted images. The subchondral signal abnormalities were hemispherical in configuration and corresponded predominantly to fibrous tissue replacing the fatty marrow. A component of trabecular thickening was also present.
ISSN:0364-2348
1432-2161
DOI:10.1007/BF00204605