Pre-Osteoarthritis: Definition and Diagnosis of an Elusive Clinical Entity.

Objective: An attempt to define pre-osteoarthritis (OA) versus early OA and definitive osteoarthritis.

Methods: A group of specialists in the field of cartilage science and treatment was formed to consider the nature of OA onset and its possible diagnosis.

Results: Late-stage OA, necessitating total joint replacement, is the end stage of a biological process, with many previous earlier stages. Early-stage OA has been defined and involves structural changes identified by arthroscopy or radiography. The group argued that before the "early-stage OA" there must exist a stage where cellular processes, due to the presence of risk factors, have kicked into action but have not yet resulted in structural changes. The group suggested that this stage could be called "pre-osteoarthritis" (pre-OA).

Conclusions: The group suggests that defining points of initiation for OA in the knee could be defined, for example, by traumatic episodes or surgical meniscectomy. Such events may set in motion metabolic processes that could be diagnosed by modern MRI protocols or arthroscopy including probing techniques before structural changes of early OA have developed. Preventive measures should preferably be applied at this pre-OA stage in order to stop the projected OA "epidemic."