Introduction: Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) is a persistent debilitating disease characterized by loss of articular cartilage and proliferative reaction of subchondral bone. This study aimed to determine and compare articular cartilage volume (ACV) in healthy and osteoarthritis knee. Further, the ACV was correlated with age, body mass index and clinico- radiological severity in knee osteoarthritis subjects.
Method: Sixty KOA subjects (cases) and thirty-one age-sex matched individuals with healthy knees (controls) were recruited. MRI of the selected knees was performed to measure ACV. The self-reported pain, stiffness and physical function were assessed using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities index. Visual Analogue Scale score for knee pain and radiological severity by Kellgren- Lawrence grade were also recorded in cases. Results: The mean ACV of controls in our population was almost similar to other populations. The ACV in controls was significantly higher than cases. With age, a statistically significant inverse correlation of ACV was found both in controls and cases. Height, weight and body mass index were independent of ACV in controls; however, in cases, a significant positive correlation of ACV was observed with height only. A significant inverse correlation of ACV was found with Western Ontario and McMaster Universities scores in cases.
Conclusion: This study makes an attempt to set a cut-off value of ACV between a normal healthy knee and an osteoarthritis knee to identify at risk or “pre-arthritis” status in individuals. ACV is also being proposed to be an ideal tool for prediction and early diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis.
