Magnetic resonance imaging-defined knee osteoarthritis rarely occurs without cartilage damage.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enables detection of early, multi-tissue changes in knee osteoarthritis (OA). A Delphi-derived MRI definition integrates findings across multiple joint tissues to classify tibiofemoral OA (TFOA), though it may identify OA in the absence of cartilage damage. We examined how often MRI-defined TFOA occurs without cartilage involvement in two large US cohorts.

Methods

We analyzed baseline data from participants without definite radiographic TFOA [Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade <2 in both knees] in the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) and Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) cohorts. OAI knees were scored using the MRI Osteoarthritis Knee Score (MOAKS) and MOST knees using the Whole-Organ MRI Score (WORMS). MRI-defined TFOA was determine

SUBMITTER: Chang AH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12796920 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature