Relation of regional articular cartilage morphometry and meniscal position by MRI to joint space width in knee radiographs.

Objective: To ascertain the contribution of articular cartilage morphometry and meniscal position on MRI to joint space width (JSW) measured in the Lyon schuss radiograph of the knee.

Design: 62 obese women with knee OA and 99 non-obese female controls (mean age 56.6 years) were imaged using 3T MRI and coronal water excitation spoiled gradient echo sequences.

Aspirin and acetaminophen: should they be available over the counter?

Traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs block cyclooxygenase (COX). They are the most widely used drugs for pain relief. They are indispensable for their effects but are condemned for their adverse drug reactions.

Urinary TIINE concentrations in a randomized controlled trial of doxycycline in knee osteoarthritis: implications of the lack of association between TIINE levels and joint space narrowing.

Objective: To use the collagenase cleavage site neoepitope, TIINE, a marker of type II collagen breakdown in cartilage, to analyze the mechanism underlying the slowing of joint space narrowing (JSN) in patients with knee osteoarthritis treated with doxycycline.

Methods: The creatinine-adjusted urinary TIINE concentration was determined at baseline and every 6 months thereafter in a subset of patients who completed a 30-month randomized, placebo-controlled study of the effect of doxycycline on radiographic progression of JSN. The subset was selected a priori to permit comparison of 60 radiographic progressors with 60 radiographic nonprogressors.

Allometric relationships between knee cartilage volume, thickness, surface area and body dimensions.

Objective: To determine if anthropometric factors obtainable on routine examination can be used to estimate premorbid knee total subchondral bone area (tAB), cartilage surface area (AC), cartilage thickness (ThC), and cartilage volume (VC).

Method: Young individuals (21-39 years old) without history of knee joint pain, injury or disease were studied. Magnetic resonance imaging of the right knee was used to determine tAB, AC, ThC and VC for knee cartilage.

Women have thinner cartilage and smaller joint surfaces than men after adjustment for body height and weight.

Objective: Females have a higher incidence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) than males, but the reason for this is unclear. Here we examine the hypothesis that women have smaller joint surfaces than men, independent of weight and height, and thus encounter higher articular pressures that might contribute to the higher incidence of OA in the female knee.

Methods: Forty healthy women and 57 men (21-39 years) with a body mass index of 16.