Osteoarthritis affects 10 million people in France. This joint disease is characterized by premature wear of the joints. It causes pain, stiffness and swelling. Since treatment is mainly symptomatic, one of the challenges of research is to obtain more information on the different ways to detect it early enough. It is with this in mind that researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) have looked at bone shape as a potential indicator of the risk of developing osteoarthritis.
The scientists collected images of 97 healthy knees and 67 knees with osteoarthritis, from 40 women and 27 men. They focused more on women because they often develop more severe symptoms, although it is not clear why. “We know that parts of the femur, which is part of the knee joint, are shaped differently in women and men, and we hypothesized that we might similarly find differences in shape in osteoarthritis.”shares Laura Wilson, lead author of the study. Advanced image analysis techniques were used (X-rays, CT scans, MRI) to create 3D models of the bones.
According to the results published in the journal “Osteoarthritis and Cartilage”scientists have discovered differences in the kneecap bone, regardless of gender, in people with osteoarthritis:
► A changed shape of the kneecap: deformations, such as a more curved or narrow facet
► A loss of cartilage indicated by a decrease in the space between the kneecap and the femur bone
► Bony growths: Bones that grow around the edges of the joint, called osteophytes
► Increased bone density: the bone under the cartilage becomes denser and harder
It seems that these characteristics are scalable: “What is surprising is that the different articular surfaces of the kneecap change shape in different ways with osteoarthritis and as the severity of the disease increases.”shares Laura Wilson. Discovered early enough, these differences could help anticipate the progression of osteoarthritis.
The team plans to expand their research to understand at what stage of osteoarthritis changes in the shape of the kneecap begin. The long-term goal is to add these features to disease prevention models and provide patients with early interventions.