Patellofemoral arthritis: its relation with infrapatellar fat pad volume and popliteal artery vessel wall thickness measured by knee mri

Understanding the pathophysiology of chondromalacia patella can play an important role in both preventing and developping new treatment strategies of this disease which is an important public health issue. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the relationship of patellar chondormalacia with obesity, infrapatellar fat pad volume (IFP) and popliteal artery vessel wall thickness (VWT).134 patients with different degree of patellar chondromalacia (54 male 80 female) and 121 normal controls (54 male 67 female) were included in this study. Subjects were grouped according to their gender, age, body surface area (BSA), body mass index (BMI) and patellar chondromalacia classification. All measurement were completed with a 3T MR scanner. Articular cartilage and IFP were measured in sagital plane using DESS and DIXON sequences, respectively. Puls triggered axial proton density images were used for the assesment of the VWT. Patellar cartilage was graded using modified outerbridge classification, and the relation between cartilage volume and BMI, BSA, IFP, VWT was statistically assessed.VWT showed an independent association with the prevalence of cartilage defects and IFP volumes (p?0,001). Furthermore, there was an association between BMI and IFP volumes (p?0,001). However no differences were observed between IFP volume and different chondromalacia groups. When IFP measurements were corrected using individual BMI and BSA values, a positive correlation was found between control and advanced chondromalacia groups (p?0,001).This study provides information on the relationship between obesity, IFP volume, popliteal artery VWT and cartilage volume, and also highlights the potential of important obesity-related inflammatory products in its initiation and progression. It may be important to recognize this potential circle in order to develop more effective treatments and inhibit the progression of chondromalacia.