Logo image
Relation of Patellofemoral Joint Alignment, Morphology, and Radiographic Osteoarthritis to Frequent Anterior Knee Pain: Data from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Relation of Patellofemoral Joint Alignment, Morphology, and Radiographic Osteoarthritis to Frequent Anterior Knee Pain: Data from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study

Erin M Macri, Tuhina Neogi, Irina Tolstykh, Rafael Widjajahakim, Cora E Lewis, James C Torner, Michael C Nevitt, Michael Roux and Joshua J Stefanik
Arthritis care & research (2010), Vol.72(8), pp.1066-1073
08/2020
DOI: 10.1002/acr.24004
PMCID: PMC6911012
PMID: 31199605
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/6911012View
Open Access

Abstract

Objective Patellofemoral (PF) alignment and trochlear morphology are associated with PF osteoarthritis (OA) and knee pain, but whether they are associated with localized anterior knee pain is unknown, which is believed to be a symptom specific to PF joint pathology. We therefore aimed to evaluate the relation of PF alignment and morphology, as well as PFOA and tibiofemoral OA, to anterior knee pain. Methods The Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study is a cohort study of individuals with, or at risk for, knee OA. We evaluated cross‐sectional associations of PF alignment, trochlear morphology, and PF and tibiofemoral radiographic OA, with localized anterior knee pain (defined with a pain map). We used 2 approaches: a within‐person knee‐matched evaluation of participants with unilateral anterior knee pain (conditional logistic regression), and a cohort approach comparing those with anterior knee pain to those without (binomial regression). Results With the within‐person knee‐matched approach (n = 110; 64% women, mean age 70 years, body mass index [BMI] 30.9), PF alignment, morphology, and tibiofemoral OA were not associated with unilateral anterior knee pain. Radiographic PFOA was associated with pain, odds ratio 5.3 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.6–18.3). Using the cohort approach (n = 1,818; 7% of knees with anterior knee pain, 59% women, mean age 68 years, BMI 30.4), results were similar: only PFOA was associated with pain, with a prevalence ratio of 2.2 (95% CI 1.4–3.4). Conclusion PF alignment and trochlear morphology were not associated with anterior knee pain in individuals with, or at risk for, knee OA. Radiographic PFOA, however, was associated with pain, suggesting that features of OA, more so than mechanical features, may contribute to localized symptoms.

Details

Metrics

Logo image