Radiographic Patterns of Radiocarpal and Midcarpal Arthritis

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to determine the specific locations of radiocarpal and/or midcarpal joint osteoarthritis (RC/MC OA). METHODS: A total of 1,007 wrist radiographs were screened for the presence of RC/MC OA. The locations of the degenerative changes were identified. In addition, the observers then determined whether the observed patterns fell under the scapholunate advanced collapse (SLAC) pattern. RESULTS: The SLAC pattern did not represent the majority of observed degenerative changes. Almost one-third of the patients had degenerative changes present at the radiolunate or scaphocapitate articulations in the absence of radioscaphoid changes. Women have a lower risk of arthritis compared with men (odds ratio, 0.306; P < 0.05). Increasing age correlated with the presence of arthritis (odds ratio, 1.05; P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Contrary to the previous reports in the literature, our cohort demonstrated that <50% of wrist OA fell into the category of SLAC arthritis.