Identifying and treating preclinical and early osteoarthritis

Abstract

Studies suggest that many persons with painful osteoarthritis already have extensive structural disease including malalignment, which may preclude successful stabilization or reversal of disease; this provides a strong rationale for developing strategies to prevent disease or to identify and treat it early. This article reviews a variety of approaches likely to capture those at high risk of or with early disease. However, given the absence of effective treatments, it is unclear whether structural disease could be successfully slowed or prevented in those with early symptoms or at high risk of disease.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Knee pain; Magnetic resonance imaging; Osteoarthritis.

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Figures

Figure 1. Source of Joint Damage by Stage of Osteoarthritis Development

Figure 2

Different frontal plane alignments. Varus and Valgus alignments increase stress across medial and lateral knee compartments respectively.