TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison between 2D radiographic weight-bearing joint space width and 3D MRI non-weight-bearing cartilage thickness measures in the knee using non-weight-bearing 2D and 3D CT as an intermediary
AU - Jansen, Mylène P.
AU - Mastbergen, Simon C.
AU - Eckstein, Felix
AU - van Heerwaarden, Ronald J.
AU - Spruijt, Sander
AU - Lafeber, Floris P.J.G.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by ZonMw (The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development, project number 95110008). The study sponsor had no involvement in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2021.
PY - 2021/8/21
Y1 - 2021/8/21
N2 - Background: In knee osteoarthritis, radiographic joint space width (JSW) is frequently used as a surrogate marker for cartilage thickness; however, longitudinal changes in radiographic JSW have shown poor correlations with those of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cartilage thickness. There are fundamental differences between the techniques: radiographic JSW represents two-dimensional (2D), weight-bearing, bone-to-bone distance, while on MRI three-dimensional (3D) non-weight-bearing cartilage thickness is measured. In this exploratory study, computed tomography (CT) was included as a third technique, as it can measure bone-to-bone under non-weight-bearing conditions. The objective was to use CT to compare the impact of weight-bearing versus non-weight-bearing, as well as bone-to-bone JSW versus actual cartilage thickness, in the knee. Methods: Osteoarthritis patients (n = 20) who were treated with knee joint distraction were included. Weight-bearing radiographs, non-weight-bearing MRIs and CTs were acquired before and 2 years after treatment. The mean radiographic JSW and cartilage thickness of the most affected compartment were measured. From CT, the 3D median JSW was calculated and a 2D projectional image was rendered, positioned similarly and measured identically to the radiograph. Pearson correlations between the techniques were derived, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Results: Fourteen patients could be analyzed. Cross-sectionally, all comparisons showed moderate to strong significant correlations (R = 0.43–0.81; all p < 0.05). Longitudinal changes over time were small; only the correlations between 2D CT and 3D CT (R = 0.65; p = 0.01) and 3D CT and MRI (R = 0.62; p = 0.02) were statistically significant. Conclusion: The poor correlation between changes in radiographic JSW and MRI cartilage thickness appears primarily to result from the difference in weight-bearing, and less so from measuring bone-to-bone distance versus cartilage thickness.
AB - Background: In knee osteoarthritis, radiographic joint space width (JSW) is frequently used as a surrogate marker for cartilage thickness; however, longitudinal changes in radiographic JSW have shown poor correlations with those of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cartilage thickness. There are fundamental differences between the techniques: radiographic JSW represents two-dimensional (2D), weight-bearing, bone-to-bone distance, while on MRI three-dimensional (3D) non-weight-bearing cartilage thickness is measured. In this exploratory study, computed tomography (CT) was included as a third technique, as it can measure bone-to-bone under non-weight-bearing conditions. The objective was to use CT to compare the impact of weight-bearing versus non-weight-bearing, as well as bone-to-bone JSW versus actual cartilage thickness, in the knee. Methods: Osteoarthritis patients (n = 20) who were treated with knee joint distraction were included. Weight-bearing radiographs, non-weight-bearing MRIs and CTs were acquired before and 2 years after treatment. The mean radiographic JSW and cartilage thickness of the most affected compartment were measured. From CT, the 3D median JSW was calculated and a 2D projectional image was rendered, positioned similarly and measured identically to the radiograph. Pearson correlations between the techniques were derived, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Results: Fourteen patients could be analyzed. Cross-sectionally, all comparisons showed moderate to strong significant correlations (R = 0.43–0.81; all p < 0.05). Longitudinal changes over time were small; only the correlations between 2D CT and 3D CT (R = 0.65; p = 0.01) and 3D CT and MRI (R = 0.62; p = 0.02) were statistically significant. Conclusion: The poor correlation between changes in radiographic JSW and MRI cartilage thickness appears primarily to result from the difference in weight-bearing, and less so from measuring bone-to-bone distance versus cartilage thickness.
KW - 3D
KW - cartilage thickness
KW - correlation
KW - CT
KW - joint space width
KW - MRI
KW - radiography
KW - weight-bearing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85113206236&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/20406223211037868
DO - 10.1177/20406223211037868
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85113206236
SN - 2040-6223
VL - 12
SP - 1
EP - 11
JO - Therapeutic Advances in Chronic Disease
JF - Therapeutic Advances in Chronic Disease
ER -