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. 2004 Dec 15;64(7):1033–1037. doi: 10.1136/ard.2004.029082

Tibial plateau size is related to grade of joint space narrowing and osteophytes in healthy women and in women with osteoarthritis

A Wluka 1, Y Wang 1, S Davis 1, F Cicuttini 1
PMCID: PMC1755552  PMID: 15601742

Abstract

Objective: To determine the relation of bone size to radiographic severity in knee osteoarthritis.

Methods: 149 women (81 healthy and 68 with knee osteoarthritis) underwent knee radiography and magnetic resonance imaging on their symptomatic or dominant knee. Tibial plateau bone area was measured at baseline and at follow up.

Results: Women with osteoarthritis had larger medial and lateral tibial plateau bone area (mean (SD): 1850 (240) mm2 and 1279 (220) mm2, respectively) than healthy women (1670 (200) mm2 and 1050 (130) mm2) (p<0.001 for both differences). For each increase in grade of osteophyte, an increase in bone area was seen of 146 mm2 in the medial compartment and 102 mm2 in the lateral compartment. Similarly, for each increase in grade of joint space narrowing, tibial plateau bone area increased by 160 mm2 in the medial compartment and 131 mm2 in the lateral compartment (significance of regression coefficients all p<0.001). These relations persisted after adjusting for potential confounders, with the exception of the association between grade of medial osteophytes and medial plateau area.

Conclusions: With increasing severity of radiographic knee osteoarthritis, tibial plateau size increases. Whether this bone increase plays a role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis remains to be determined.

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Figure 1.

Figure 1

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 Axial T1 weighted fat saturated three dimensional magnetic resonance image showing the method of measuring the tibial plateau bone area. The area of medial (Roi-2) and lateral (Roi-1) tibial plateau bone is measured manually on the image on the left, which shows both tibial cartilage and subchondral bone and the next image distal to the joint, shown on the right. An average of the two areas is used as an estimate of the tibial plateau bone area.

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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