Does Midcarpal Joint Structure Affect Development of Arthritis in the Wrist

• Published in: Journal of wrist surgery 2023-02, Vol.12 (1), p.028-031
• Main Authors: Tesoriero, Paul, Becker, Jacob, Passano, Brandon, Huang, Shengnan, Petchprapa, Catherine, Wollstein, Ronit
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Scientific; Scientific Article
• ISSN: 2163-3916; 2163-3924
• DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1749163

Abstract Background  Degenerative wrist arthritis develops in specific patterns because of forces acting on existing structural configurations. The most common pattern of wrist osteoarthritis is scapholunate advanced collapse (SLAC). Other patterns include isolated scaphotrapezial trapezoid (STT) joint and isolated midcarpal or radiolunate joint arthritis. One predictor of degeneration pattern is the structure of the wrist. Questions/Purposes  Our purpose was to evaluate the relationship between midcarpal joint structure and the pattern of degenerative arthritis. We hypothesized that a wrist type 2 will preferentially develop SLAC degeneration. Patients and Methods  We retrospectively evaluated 195 degenerative wrist radiographs. Radiographs were reviewed for lunate/wrist type, degeneration pattern, ulnar variance, radial and volar tilt, inclination, carpal height, scapholunate angle, gap, and presence of thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) joint, STT joint, and midcarpal joint arthritis. Results  We had 158 radiographs with SLAC degeneration and 37 with atypical patterns, 154 type 2 and 41 type 1 wrists. There was a significant correlation between wrist type and the pattern of wrist degeneration ( p  = 0.02). SLAC degeneration developed in wrists with type 2 lunate while isolated midcarpal arthritis was associated with type 1 wrist. Isolated midcarpal joint arthritis was associated with STT arthritis, p