Abstract
In this cross-sectional study, we compared patellofemoral geometry in individuals with a youth-sport-related intra-articular knee injury to uninjured individuals, and the association between patellofemoral geometry and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-defined osteoarthritis (OA) features. In the Youth Prevention of Early OA (PrE-OA) cohort, we assessed 10 patellofemoral geometry measures in individuals 3–10 years following injury compared with uninjured individuals of similar age, sex, and sport, using mixed effects linear regression. We also dichotomized geometry to identify extreme (>1.96 standard deviations) features and assessed likelihood of having extreme values using Poisson regression. Finally, we evaluated the associations between patellofemoral geometry with MRI-defined OA features using restricted cubic spline regression. Mean patellofemoral geometry did not differ substantially between groups. However, compared with uninjured individuals, injured individuals were more likely to have extremely large sulcus angle (prevalence ratio [PR] 3.9 [95% confidence interval, CI: 2.3, 6.6]), and shallow lateral trochlear inclination (PR 4.3 (1.1, 17.9)) and trochlear depth (PR 5.3 (1.6, 17.4)). In both groups, high bisect offset (PR 1.7 [1.3, 2.1]) and sulcus angle (PR 4.0 [2.3, 7.0]) were associated with cartilage lesion, and most geometry measures were associated with at least one structural feature, especially cartilage lesions and osteophytes. We observed no interaction between geometry and injury. Certain patellofemoral geometry features are correlated with higher prevalence of structural lesions compared with injury alone, 3–10 years following knee injury. Hypotheses generated in this study, once further evaluated, could contribute to identifying higher-risk individuals who may benefit from targeted treatment aimed at preventing posttraumatic OA.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 78-89 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Orthopaedic Research |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 9 Jun 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2024 |
Bibliographical note
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:We thank all individuals who participated in this study, and acknowledge the assistance of research coordinators Gabriella Nasuti, Jamie Rishaug, and Lisa Loos, and numerous research assistants and students at the SIPRC. The Alberta Youth Prevention of Early Osteoarthritis cohort was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP 133597), the Alberta Osteoarthritis Team supported by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (AIHS) and the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation. The Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre is supported by an International Olympic Committee Research Centre Award. Jackie L. Whittaker was funded by an Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Clinician Fellowship during this study, and has received salary support through a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award (SCH‐2020‐0403) and Arthritis Society STAR Career Development Award (STAR‐19‐0493). EMM was funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Orthopaedic Research® published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Orthopaedic Research Society.