Title:Quantitatively Measured Infrapatellar Fat Pad Signal Intensity Alteration is
Associated with Joint Effusion-synovitis in Knee Osteoarthritis
Volume: 20
Author(s): Guangfeng Ruan, Shilong Lu, Yan Zhang, Zhaohua Zhu, Peihua Cao, Xiaoshuai Wang, Jia Li, Su’an Tang, Tianyu Chen, Weiyu Han, Jianwei Zhu, Di Chen, Benny Antony, Tania Winzenberg, Anita E. Wluka, Flavia Cicuttini and Changhai Ding*
Affiliation:
- Clinical Research Centre, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- Clinical Research Centre, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
Keywords:
Osteoarthritis, Infrapatellar fat pad, Effusion-synovitis, MRI, Cartilage, Osteophyte.
Abstract:
Objective:
The objective of this study is to investigate whether quantitatively measured infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) signal intensity alteration is associated
with joint effusion-synovitis in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA) over two years.
Methods:
Among 255 knee OA patients, IPFP signal intensity alteration represented by four measurement parameters [standard deviation of IPFP signal
intensity (IPFP sDev), upper quartile value of IPFP high signal intensity region (IPFP UQ (H)), ratio of IPFP high signal intensity region volume to
whole IPFP volume (IPFP percentage (H)), and clustering factor of IPFP high signal intensity (IPFP clustering factor (H))] was measured
quantitatively at baseline and two-year follow-up using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Effusion-synovitis of the suprapatellar pouch and
other cavities were measured both quantitatively and semi-quantitatively as effusion-synovitis volume and effusion-synovitis score at baseline and
two-year follow-up using MRI. Mixed effects models assessed the associations between IPFP signal intensity alteration and effusion-synovitis over
two years.
Results:
In multivariable analyses, all four parameters of IPFP signal intensity alteration were positively associated with total effusion-synovitis volume and
effusion-synovitis volumes of the suprapatellar pouch and of other cavities over two years (all P<0.05). They were also associated with the semiquantitative
measure of effusion-synovitis except for IPFP percentage (H) with effusion-synovitis in other cavities.
Conclusion:
Quantitatively measured IPFP signal intensity alteration is positively associated with joint effusion-synovitis in people with knee OA, suggesting
that IPFP signal intensity alteration may contribute to effusion-synovitis and a coexistent pattern of these two imaging biomarkers could exist in
knee OA patients.
