Abstract
BackgroundIt has been suggested that knee height is a determinant of knee joint load. Nonetheless, no study has directly examined the relationship between anthropometric measures of height and knee joint structures, such as cartilage.Methods89 asymptomatic community-based adults aged 25-62 with no diagnosed history of knee arthropathy were recruited. Anthropometric data (knee height and body height) were obtained by standard protocol, while tibial cartilage volume and defects, as well as bone area were determined from magnetic resonance imaging. Static knee alignment was measured from the joint radiograph.ResultsAll anthropometric height measures were associated with increasing compartmental tibial bone area (p ≤ 0.05). Although knee height was associated with tibial cartilage volume (e.g. β = 27 mm3 95% CI 7- 48; p = 0.009 for the medial compartment), these relationship no longer remained significant when knee height as a percentage of body height was analysed. Knee height as a percentage of body height was associated with a reduced risk of medial tibial cartilage defects (odds ratio 0.6; 95% confidence interval 0.4 - 1.0; p = 0.05).ConclusionThe association between increased anthropometric height measures and increased tibial bone area may reflect inherently larger bony structures. However the beneficial associations demonstrated with cartilage morphology suggest that an increased knee height may confer a beneficial biomechanical environment to the chondrocyte of asymptomatic adults.
Highlights
It has been suggested that knee height is a determinant of knee joint load
Knee height was associated with medial (b = 27 mm3 95% CI 7- 48; p = 0.009) and lateral (b = 42 mm3 95% CI 19- 65; p = 0.001) tibial cartilage volume after adjustment for confounders
Knee height was not associated with the risk of cartilage defects, knee height as a percentage of body height was associated with a reduced risk of the presence of medial tibial cartilage defects
Summary
It has been suggested that knee height is a determinant of knee joint load. No study has directly examined the relationship between anthropometric measures of height and knee joint structures, such as cartilage. To be formally examined, the rationale for knee height being an important determinant of joint structure is based on the hypothesis that greater limb length imparts larger moments around the knee, producing more torque and subsequent joint loads. In the only study to have examined knee height, Hunter and colleagues (2005) demonstrated an increased characterize the association between anthropometric measures of height and knee joint morphology. The aim of this study was to examine whether body height, knee height and knee height as a percentage of body height are associated with knee joint structures in an asymptomatic community-based population MRI enables asymptomatic subjects, free from radiographic OA, who may have very early degenerative changes, such as cartilage defects, to be examined in an attempt to help better understand the pathogenesis of pre-clinical knee OA.
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