title: The SFA system for assessing articular cartilage lesions at arthroscopy of the knee.
abstract: We proposed to establish a system of assessing severity of chondropathy taking into account localization, size, and depth of cartilage lesions. The design of the study was prospective and multicenter. The subjects were 755 patients who had undergone arthroscopy of the knee. Criteria for assessment of severity of chondropathy were as follows: (a) Physician's overall assessment using a 100-mm-long Visual Analogue Scale, and (b) size, grade, and localization of cartilage lesions recorded on a diagram. We used multivariate parametric and nonparametric analyses. The analyses resulted in two systems of assessing severity of chondropathy: SFA scoring for the three compartments of the knee, which is a continuous variable, and SFA grading, which is a semiquantitative variable. These systems seem to be of clinical relevance. However, more studies are required to further validate them and their capacity to detect changes in severity of chondropathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hôpital Cochin, Université René Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dougados
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ayral
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Listrat
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gueguen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bahuaud
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Beaufils
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Beguin
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bonvarlet
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boyer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Coudane
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices