Individual and cumulative measures of knee joint load associate with T2 relaxation times of knee cartilage in young, uninjured individuals: A pilot study

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease that is the leading sources of chronic pain and disability in the United States and many other countries [1,2]. The knee joint accounts for over 80% of the total burden due to OA [2]. Further, post-traumatic knee OA that results from joint injury or trauma accounts for 13% of the OA prevalence in the United States [3]. OA is a disease that is characterized by deterioration of articular cartilage. Articular cartilage is composed mostly of water, collagen, proteoglycans and chondrocytes, and provides a smooth, low-friction surface between joints to allow for transmission of load to underlying subchondral bone [4].
Source: The Knee - Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Source Type: research