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Comparison of MRI-based assessment systems for osteoarthritic knees: the irregularity index system and WORMS

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Orthopaedic Science

Abstract

Purpose

Several MRI-based evaluation systems for osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee have been developed. Among them the whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging score (WORMS), which evaluates the status of the entire knee joint, appears to be representative. We developed an irregularity index system to measure irregularities of the contours of the femoral condyle on MRI. Only the contour of the condyle was assessed by the irregularity index, whereas several items comprising the knee joint were taken into account by WORMS. This study compared the irregularity index and WORMS in terms of their correlations with clinical scores.

Methods

Thirty-one medial-type OA knees were studied. Kellgren-Lawrence grading was used for X-ray grading: 8 were grade II, 11 were grade III, and 12 were grade IV. Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores and Japanese knee osteoarthritis measure scores were used for clinical assessments. We determined the correlations between MRI-based assessment scores and clinical scores.

Results

Both the irregularity index and WORMS exhibited positive correlations with these clinical scores. The irregularity index was associated with bone cysts of the medial compartment and menisci in the articular features of WORMS.

Conclusions

These MRI-based methods are useful for evaluating OA severity. However, the irregularity index may have advantages over WORMS because of its semi-automatic features.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Comprehensive Research on Aging and Health, Health and Labor Sciences Research Grants of Japan.

Conflict of interest

Authors do not have any conflict of interest with respect to the context of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan

    Kei O. Matsuki, Takahisa Sasho, Koichi Nakagawa, Nobuyasu Ochiai, Satoshi Yamaguchi, Masahiko Saito, Naoshi Ikegawa, Ryuichiro Akagi & Kazuhisa Takahashi

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chiba Medical Center Teikyo University, Ichihara, Japan

    Atsuya Watanabe, Yuichi Wada & Keisuke Matsuki

Authors
  1. Kei O. Matsuki
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  2. Takahisa Sasho
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  3. Koichi Nakagawa
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  4. Nobuyasu Ochiai
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  5. Satoshi Yamaguchi
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  6. Masahiko Saito
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  11. Keisuke Matsuki
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  12. Kazuhisa Takahashi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takahisa Sasho.

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Matsuki, K.O., Sasho, T., Nakagawa, K. et al. Comparison of MRI-based assessment systems for osteoarthritic knees: the irregularity index system and WORMS. J Orthop Sci 16, 369–375 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00776-011-0062-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00776-011-0062-2

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