title: A comparative study of diagnostic and imaging techniques for osteoarthritis of the trapezium.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to determine whether micro-CT is a reliable investigation method to evaluate the severity of OA in the trapezium and to develop a novel micro-CT scoring system based on a quantitative assessment of the subchondral bone thickness in order to better assess OA through an objective parameter.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared different diagnostic and imaging techniques performed consecutively on each sample: X-ray, visual analysis, micro-CT and histology. OA and healthy trapezia were subjected to semi-quantitative and quantitative analyses to be classified in four degrees of severity in OA (control, OA-2, OA-3 and OA-4). Specifically, samples were analysed using Dell's score for X-ray, Brown's score for visual analysis and Mankin's score for histology. Micro-CT was scored using a novel quantitative scoring system based on subchondral bone thickness measurements. Results obtained with each technique were then compared and correlated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  X-ray analysis showed a higher frequency of OA-2 (27%) and OA-3 (32%) compared with OA-4 (5%), whereas visual analysis, micro-CT and histology showed a lower percentage for OA-2 (18%, 18% and 14%) and OA-3 (23%) and increased frequency for OA-4 (45%, 32% and 40%). Only the micro-CT score of subchondral bone thickness correlated significantly with all the other techniques (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first comparison of techniques proposing a novel scoring system based on objective and quantitative micro-CT data that can be applied as a useful diagnostic tool for OA, providing a deeper comprehension of the pathophysiology of OA in trapezium.
authors.affiliation: Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Hand Surgery Unit, IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopaedic Institute, Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Gruppo Ospedaliero San Donato Foundation and Mouse and Animal Pathology Laboratory (MAP Lab), Filarete Foundation, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Arianna B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Lovati
authors.affiliation: Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Hand Surgery Unit, IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopaedic Institute, Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Gruppo Ospedaliero San Donato Foundation and Mouse and Animal Pathology Laboratory (MAP Lab), Filarete Foundation, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pozzi
authors.affiliation: Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Hand Surgery Unit, IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopaedic Institute, Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Gruppo Ospedaliero San Donato Foundation and Mouse and Animal Pathology Laboratory (MAP Lab), Filarete Foundation, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Matilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bongio
authors.affiliation: Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Hand Surgery Unit, IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopaedic Institute, Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Gruppo Ospedaliero San Donato Foundation and Mouse and Animal Pathology Laboratory (MAP Lab), Filarete Foundation, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Recordati
authors.affiliation: Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Hand Surgery Unit, IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopaedic Institute, Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Gruppo Ospedaliero San Donato Foundation and Mouse and Animal Pathology Laboratory (MAP Lab), Filarete Foundation, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Berzero
authors.affiliation: Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Hand Surgery Unit, IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopaedic Institute, Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Gruppo Ospedaliero San Donato Foundation and Mouse and Animal Pathology Laboratory (MAP Lab), Filarete Foundation, Milan, Italy. matteo.moretti@grupposandonato.it.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moretti
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006653:Histology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D051222:Trapezium Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography / Q000379:methods*; D014965:X-Rays
keywords: X-ray; comparative diagnostic analyses; histology; micro-CT; osteoarthritis; stereomicroscopy; subchondral bone thickness; trapezium