ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To study the medial meniscus extrusion (MME) in subjects with and without medial meniscal tears on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), supine ultrasound (US), and weight-bearing US. METHODS: Forty-seven cases (mean age 43.7 years) with medial meniscus tears and 53 healthy controls (mean age 36.6 years) were assessed. Two experienced sonographers performed the US evaluations, and a fellowship-trained musculoskeletal radiologist assessed the menisci on MRI. Independent and paired T-tests and ICC were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: On supine US, the mean MME was 3.9 mm for the cases and 2.3 mm for the controls (p < 0.001). On weight-bearing US, the values were 4.2 and 2.8 mm (p < 0.001), and on MRI 3.0 and 2.0 mm (p < 0.001), respectively. The mean difference between supine and weight-bearing US extrusion was 0.38 mm for the cases and 0.49 mm for the controls (p = 0.291). Correlation between supine US and MRI MME measurements was good (ICC = 0.660, CIs [0.533-0.758]). CONCLUSIONS: MME can be assessed using US with good correlation to MRI. US-observed extrusion was significantly increased in supine and standing positions for medial meniscus tears. The mean difference between examination positions was reduced with medial meniscus tears although this result was statistically insignificant.
ABSTRACT
Traditionally, osteoarthritis (OA) is diagnosed with the clinical examination supplemented by the conventional radiography (CR). In the research literature, the role of ultrasound (US) imaging in the diagnostics of OA has risen steadily during the last two decades. US imaging is cheap and globally widely available often already in primary healthcare. Here, we reviewed the most essential US literature focusing on OA diagnostics and progression prediction using the various search engines. Starting from the year 2000, our search provided 1 445 journal articles. After reviewing the abstracts, 89 articles were finally included. Most of the reviewed articles focused on the imaging of knee and hand OA, whereas only a minority dealt with the imaging of hip, ankle, midfoot, acromioclavicular, and temporomandibular joints. Overall, during the last 20 years, the use of US imaging for OA assessment has increased in the scientific literature. In knee and hand joints, US imaging has been reported to be a promising tool to evaluate OA changes. Furthermore, the reproducibility of US as well as its association to MRI findings are excellent. Importantly, US seems to even outperform CR in certain aspects, such as detection of osteophytes, joint inflammation, meniscus protrusion, and localized cartilage damage (especially at the medial femoral condyle and sulcus area). Based on the reviewed literature, US can be truly considered as a complementary tool to CR in the clinical setup for OA diagnostics. New technical developments may even enhance the diagnostic value of the US in the future.
