title: Correlations of Medial Joint Space Width on Fixed-Flexed Standing Computed Tomography and Radiographs With Cartilage and Meniscal Morphology on Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
abstract: To assess whether medial tibiofemoral joint space width (JSW) on 3-dimensional (3-D) standing computed tomography (SCT) correlates more closely with magnetic resonance imaging cartilage morphology (CM) and meniscal scores than does radiographic 2-D JSW.
  
  
  
  Participants in the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study, who had standing fixed-flexion posteroanterior knee radiographs, were recruited. Medial tibiofemoral 3-D JSW on SCT and 2-D JSW on fixed-flexion radiographs were compared with medial tibiofemoral cartilage and meniscal morphology using the Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (WORMS). Associations between the area of the articular surface with 3-D JSW <2.5 mm on SCT, radiographic minimal 2-D JSW, and the WORMS-CM and meniscal scores were assessed using Spearman's rho.
  
  
  
  For the 19 participants included (33 knees), mean ± SD age was 66.9 ± 5.4 years, body mass index was 29.5 ± 4.4 kg/m(2) , 42.1% of participants were female, and the Kellgren/Lawrence grades were 0 (21.2%), 1 (36.4%), 2 (18.2%), and 3 (24.2%). The articular surface area with 3-D JSW <2.5 mm on SCT correlated with WORMS-CM scores for the central medial tibia (rs  = 0.84, P < 0.001), central medial femur (rs  = 0.60, P < 0.007), and posterior medial meniscal tear (rs  = 0.39, P < 0.026), as did other cut points for 3-D JSW. Correlations with radiographic minimal 2-D JSW were -0.66, -0.52, and -0.40, respectively, differing from SCT only for tibial cartilage (P = 0.001).
  
  
  
  Greater surface area with a low JSW, measured by SCT, correlates more strongly with the severity of tibial cartilage lesions, while correlating with medial femoral cartilage and meniscal damage to a similar extent as radiographic minimal JSW. SCT may enable valid stratification of participants in clinical trials, through quickly and inexpensively characterizing osteoarthritis features.
authors.affiliation: University of Kansas, Kansas City, and University of Iowa, Iowa City. segal-research@kumc.edu.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Iowa City.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frick
authors.affiliation: Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duryea
authors.affiliation: Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Roemer
authors.affiliation: Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guermazi
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Nevitt
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Iowa City.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Torner
authors.affiliation: Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Felson
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Iowa City.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008592:Menisci, Tibial / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D011187:Posture; D011859:Radiography; D013977:Tibia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed