Differences in trabecular structure between knees with and without osteoarthritis quantified by macro and standard radiography, respectively.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the sensitivity of standard and macro-radiography for quantifying cancellous bone differences between subjects with and without medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA).


METHODS
Patients with medial compartment knee OA (n=24) and non-OA reference subjects (n=10) had a standard and a macro-radiograph (x4 magnification) of one knee. Fractal Signature Analysis (FSA), a computerised image analysis technique, measured differences in cancellous bone structure between OA and non-OA tibiae in all radiographs.


RESULTS
Compared to non-OA, FSA of vertical trabeculae in macro-radiographs increased significantly (P<0.05) in the OA group at several trabecular widths (0.30-0.60mm, 0.7 mm, 0.98-1.14 mm) and in standard radiographs at a single trabecular width (0.48 mm).


CONCLUSIONS
Compared to standard radiography, increased spatial resolution of macro-radiography allowed greater detection of trabecular bone differences between OA and non-OA knees. Nonetheless, difference was also detected in standard radiographs.
Messent
E A
EA
Department of Applied Clinical Anatomy, King's College London, School of Medicine, Guy's Hospital Campus, London, UK.
Ward
R J
RJ
Tonkin
C J
CJ
Buckland-Wright
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D017709:Fractals; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D011859:Radiography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results