ارتباط میان یافته‌های کمّی شده MRI با یافته‌های بالینی و رادیوگرافی ساده در بیماران مبتلا به استئوآرتریت زانو

Background: Unlike quantified MRI, no correlation has been stated between radiologic findings and the clinical signs in patients with knee osteoarthritis. This study evaluates the relationship between quantified clinical signs including pain, restriction of movement, stiffness and structural changes with MRI and plain radiography findings. Methods: Eighty patients with knee osteoarthritis were successively recruited in the study in Rasole Akram Hospital from 2009 to 2010. Upon physical examination, quantified scales of pain and joint stiffness and limitation of movement were recorded and quantified findings of MRI and plain x-ray were reported during the paraclinical study. All the gathered data including the demographic characteristics of the participants were read to the statistical software. Results: In MRI study, pain was significantly correlated with knee effusion (P=0.008), osteophytes (P=0.006), meniscal degeneration (P=0.036) and subchondral cysts (P=0.044) as was joint stiffness correlated with chondral lesions (P=0.020) and meniscal degeneration (P=0.026). On the other hand, there were no relationship between pain and joint stiffness or limitation of movement in radiologic studies but significant relationships existed between radiologic findings with bone marrow inflammation (P=0.015), chondral lesions (P=0.022) and subchondral cysts (P=0.014). Conclusion: As shown in this study, MRI findings including chondral lesions, subchondral cysts and bone marrow inflammation were correlated with radiologic findings and osteophytes, subchondral cysts, joint effusion and meniscal degeneration were correlated with pain as were meniscal degenerations and chondral lesions were with joint stiffness. On the other hand, clinical findings (pain, stiffness and limitation of movement) had no correlation with radiologic findings.