Severity of joint pain and Kellgren-Lawrence grade at baseline are better predictors of joint space narrowing than bone scintigraphy in obese women with knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: To compare the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of a baseline late-phase bone scan and assessments of the radiographic and symptomatic severity of knee osteoarthritis (OA) at baseline as predictors of loss of articular cartilage thickness, as reflected in joint space narrowing (JSN) in the medial tibiofemoral compartment.

Methods: Subjects (174 obese women, 45-64 yrs of age, with unilateral knee OA) were a subset of a larger cohort who participated in a placebo controlled trial of a disease modifying OA drug. Uptake of technetium medronate (99mTc-MDP) in anteroposterior (AP) and lateral views of a late-phase bone scan was measured at baseline in a region of interest drawn around the medial tibia, and was adjusted for (i.

Bone scintigraphy is not a better predictor of progression of knee osteoarthritis than Kellgren and Lawrence grade.

Objective: To determine the predictive value of bone scintigraphy with respect to joint space narrowing (JSN) in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), based on quantitative estimates of uptake of a bone-seeking radiopharmaceutical and fluoroscopically standardized knee radiography.

Methods: Our study group included 86 obese women, 45-64 years of age, with unilateral knee OA. Uptake of technetium medronate (99mTc-MDP) in late-phase bone scans was measured at baseline in 5 regions of interest (ROI: lateral femur, lateral tibia, medial femur, medial tibia, and patellofemoral joint) and was adjusted for uptake (i.