Three-dimensional MRI shows cartilage defect extension with no separation from the meniscus in women in their 70 s with knee osteoarthritis

The positional relationship between cartilage defects and the meniscus is poorly understood for osteoarthritis of the knee. Our purpose was to clarify how cartilage defects extend and their association with the meniscus location during osteoarthritis progression. The subjects were women in their 70 s who were registered in the Kanagawa Knee Study. We obtained 3D MRI images of the tibial surfaces with menisci in subjects with cartilage area ratios < 0.95 and examined the morphological association between cartilage defects and the medial meniscus (MM) by viewing the defects according to the cartilage area ratio at the medial tibial region. Of the 561 Kanagawa Knee Study subjects, 45 were included in the analyses, and 11 had a cartilage area ratio < 0.95 at the medial tibia. Significant differences were observed in the localization of cartilage defects among 9 subregions, with cartilage defects occurring predominantly in the middle external subregion. The inner margin of the MM contacted the cartilage defect in 7 knees and crossed the cartilage defect in 4 knees but was never found separated from the cartilage defect. The cartilage defects occurred from the middle external subregion and extended to the surrounding area without separating from the inner margin of the MM. Trial registration UMIN, UMIN000032826; 1 September 2018.