Osteoarthritis of the knee joint: an eight year prospective study

Article Abstract:

Osteoarthritis is a chronic disease involving destruction of joint cartilage, overgrowth of bone, and malformation of the joints. These changes tend to occur in the weight-bearing joints such as the hip and knee, and can lead to severe disability. The progression of osteoarthritis, its pattern of joint involvement, and X-ray findings were evaluated in 31 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. The patients underwent clinical evaluation and X-ray examination on two separate occasions that were eight years apart. Seven patients showed no changes in their condition and 20 patients worsened, with two requiring knee surgery and many experiencing severe disability. Out of four patients who thought they had improved, two showed dramatic clinical improvement. Osteoarthritis developed slowly in most patients, and the most frequent second site of disease after the knee joint was the hand. Chondrocalcinosis, a long-term recurrent arthritis resembling gout, occurred in five patients. The findings demonstrate that osteoarthritis can have a variety of outcomes; it does not follow the same course in all patients. While most patients showed increasing disability over time, this was not universal in the subject group. Symptoms, functional ability, and X-ray findings should be viewed as three separate measures of disease progression that do not always confirm each other; improvement in one measure may occur simultaneously with degeneration of another. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Abnormalities, Prognosis, Joint diseases

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Prevalence of generalised osteoarthritis in patients with advanced hip and knee osteoarthritis: the Ulm Osteoarthritis Study

Article Abstract:

Patients with advanced osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee may be more likely to have generalized OA, compared to patients with OA of the hip. Generalized OA describes inflammatory, degenerative joint disease in multiple joints in the hands and legs. Researchers compared 420 patients with hip OA and 389 patients with knee OA hospitalized for total joint replacement surgery. More than 82% of patient had OA in the joint opposite the one to be replaced. Hand arthritis was present in 35% of patients with knee OA and 19% of patients with hip OA. Seventy-three percent of knee OA patients were female.

Germany, Physiological aspects, Inflammation, Hip

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Assessing the prevalence of hand osteoarthritis in epidemiological studies: the reliability of a radiological hand scale

Article Abstract:

Researchers describe a way of evaluating osteoarthritis in the hand by measuring how narrow the joint spaces are on an X-ray. This is caused by a loss of cartilage in the space. Other signs such as osteophytes and sclerosis are only considered if they occur in the context of joint space narrowing.

Diagnosis, Medical examination, Hand

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