The early detection of degenerative arthritis of the knee joint

Abstract

With flexion of the knee, the contact area migrates posteriorly within the joint and becomes smaller. This leads to increased loads and the articular cartilages undergo degenerative processes. We have reviewed weight-bearing X-rays of 150 patients (180 symptomatic knees), who were over 40 years old and with more than 6 months' history of knee pain. The results of flexion and extension weight-bearing views were analyzed and compared. Of the 180 knees, 158 showed no cartilage space narrowing in weight-bearing views in full extension. However 60 of the 158 knees (37.9%) showed the cartilage space narrowing in the flexion weight-bearing views. The weight-bearing views with knees in flexion revealed significant additional narrowing in 77 of 180 knees (43%). Flexion weight-bearing views are more sensitive in assessing the damage to articular cartilage in degenerative arthritis.