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Isolated lateral patellofemoral joint OA more common than isolated medial counterpart
Among symptomatic patients who were at least 50 years old, investigators found isolated lateral patellofemoral joint osteoarthritis was more common than isolated medial patellofemoral joint osteoarthritis and was more often linked with osteoarthritis risk factors.
Vincent Ukachukwu, MRCGP, MMedSci, from Keele University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues assessed 745 adults with symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA). They found isolated lateral PF joint OA was more common than its medial counterpart. In addition, increased risk for isolated lateral joint space narrowing (JSN) was linked with age (ratio = 1.19), BMI (ratio = 1.15) and valgus misalignment (ratio = 2.58); whereas, isolated medial JSN was only linked with age (ratio = 1.2). Furthermore, isolated lateral patellofemoral (PF) joint OA was linked with higher pain scores than the medial counterpart, but these results were not significant.
“Our findings support better patient selection for clinical trials, eg, through the inclusion of symptomatic patients with probable PF joint space narrowing (grade 1), and possibly the need to rethink current PF joint OA treatments that attempt to realign the patella medially,” the researchers wrote. – by Will A. Offit
Disclosures: Researchers report funding from the Medical Research Council U.K. and Arthritis Research U.K. Please see the full study for a list of all other relevant financial disclosures.