Menopause is associated with articular cartilage degeneration: a clinical study of knee joint in 860 women

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between menopause and severity of knee joint cartilage degeneration using a magnetic resonance imaging-based six-level grading system, with six cartilage surfaces, the medial and lateral femoral condyle, the femoral trochlea, the medial and lateral tibia plateau, and the patella.
Methods: The study cohort comprised 860 healthy women (age 36-83 y), and 5,160 cartilage surfaces were analyzed. Age, weight, height, age at natural menopause, and years since menopause (YSM) were obtained. Cartilage degeneration was assessed using a magnetic resonance imaging-based six-level grading system.
Results: After removing the age, height, and weight effects, postmenopausal women had more severe cartilage degeneration than pre- and perimenopausal women (P 

Source: Menopause - October 28, 2016 Category: OBGYN Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research