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Longitudinal sensitivity to change of MRI-based muscle cross-sectional area versus isometric strength analysis in osteoarthritic knees with and without structural progression: pilot data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative

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Abstract

Object

Biomechanical measurement of muscle strength represents established technology in evaluating limb function. Yet, analysis of longitudinal change suffers from relatively large between-measurement variability. Here, we determine the sensitivity to change of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based measurement of thigh muscle anatomical cross sectional areas (ACSAs) versus isometric strength in limbs with and without structural progressive knee osteoarthritis (KOA), with focus on the quadriceps.

Materials and methods

Of 625 “Osteoarthritis Initiative” participants with radiographic KOA, 20 had MRI cartilage and radiographic joint space width loss in the right knee isometric muscle strength measurement and axial T1-weighted spin-echo acquisitions of the thigh. Muscle ACSAs were determined from manual segmentation at 33 % femoral length (distal to proximal).

Results

In progressor knees, the reduction in quadriceps ACSA between baseline and 2-year follow-up was −2.8 ± 7.9 % (standardized response mean [SRM] = −0.35), and it was −1.8 ± 6.8 % (SRM = −0.26) in matched, non-progressive KOA controls. The decline in extensor strength was more variable than that in ACSAs, both in progressors (−3.9 ± 20 %; SRM = −0.20) and in non-progressive controls (−4.5 ± 28 %; SRM = −0.16).

Conclusion

MRI-based analysis of quadriceps muscles ACSAs appears to be more sensitive to longitudinal change than isometric extensor strength and is suggestive of greater loss in limbs with structurally progressive KOA than in non-progressive controls.

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Acknowledgments

The study and image acquisition was supported by the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI). The OAI is a public–private partnership comprised of five contracts (N01-AR-2-2258; N01-AR-2-2259; N01-AR-2-2260; N01-AR-2-2261; N01-AR-2-2262) funded by the National Institutes of Health, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services, and conducted by the OAI Study Investigators. Private funding partners include Pfizer, Inc.; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Merck Research Laboratories; and GlaxoSmithKline. Private sector funding for the OAI is managed by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. This manuscript has received the approval of the OAI Publications Committee based on a review of its scientific content and data interpretation. The image analysis was supported by the Paracelsus Medical University Forschungsfond (R-10-02-014-WIRTH). The funding sources took no active part of influence on the analysis of the data and in drafting or revising the article. However, the manuscript received the approval of the OAI Publications Committee based on a review of its scientific content and data interpretation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Anatomy and Musculoskeletal Research, Paracelsus Medical University, Strubergasse 21, 5020, Salzburg, Austria

    Torben Dannhauer, Martina Sattler, Wolfgang Wirth & Felix Eckstein

  2. Chondrometrics GmbH, Ainring, Germany

    Torben Dannhauer, Wolfgang Wirth & Felix Eckstein

  3. Royal North Shore Hospital and Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    David J. Hunter

  4. Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    C. Kent Kwoh

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  1. Torben Dannhauer
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  2. Martina Sattler
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  3. Wolfgang Wirth
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  4. David J. Hunter
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  5. C. Kent Kwoh
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  6. Felix Eckstein
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Correspondence to Torben Dannhauer.

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The study was conducted for the OAI investigators.

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Dannhauer, T., Sattler, M., Wirth, W. et al. Longitudinal sensitivity to change of MRI-based muscle cross-sectional area versus isometric strength analysis in osteoarthritic knees with and without structural progression: pilot data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Magn Reson Mater Phy 27, 339–347 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-013-0418-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-013-0418-z

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