Total meniscectomy in adolescence. A thirty-year follow-up.

We have carried out a prospective, longitudinal 30-year review of 95 adolescents who underwent total meniscectomy in one knee, and have compared the results with those observed 13 years earlier. All the medical records were scrutinised. Of the 63 patients reviewed clinically, 47 reported decreased sporting activity, although subjective satisfaction rose by 3% to 71%. The scores on the WOMAC osteoarthritis index differed significantly between patients grouped by subjective global assessment. Satisfactory function scores increased from 48% to 60%. In the 53 patients consenting to bilateral radiography of the knee, the incidence of narrowing of the articular cartilage in the operated knee increased significantly between the reviews (19% to 36%). Progression of degenerative change paralleled reduction in activity. Outcome measures were best after medial, intermediate after lateral and worst after double meniscectomy.

Knee osteoarthritis after meniscectomy: prevalence of radiographic changes after twenty-one years, compared with matched controls.

OBJECTIVE: To study the long-term outcome of surgical removal of a meniscus in the knee with regard to radiographic signs of osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: Of the 123 patients who underwent an open meniscectomy due to an isolated meniscus tear in 1973 at Lund University Hospital, 107 were followed up 21 years later by clinical examination and by review of knee radiographs obtained with weight bearing. Seventy-nine of the 107 patients were men, and the mean age of the total study group at examination was 55 years (range 35-77). Sixty-eight sex- and age-matched individuals with healthy knees served as controls. RESULTS: Mild radiographic changes were found in 76 (71%) of the knees, while more advanced changes, comparable with a Kellgren-Lawrence grade of 2 or higher, were seen in 51 (48%). The corresponding prevalence values in the control group were 12 (18%) and 5 (7%), respectively. The relative risk for the presence of the more advanced radiographic changes representing definite radiographic tibiofemoral OA was 14.0 (95% confidence interval 3.5-121.2), using age- and sex-matched pairs for comparison. No correlation with sex, localization to compartment, type of meniscus tear, or work load was found. Knee symptoms were reported twice as often in the study group as in the controls. CONCLUSION: Surgical removal of a meniscus following knee injury represents a significant risk factor for radiographic tibiofemoral OA, with a relative risk of 14.0 after 21 years.

Meniscal regeneration in the long-term after total meniscectomy?

A cohort of 39 patients (28 male, 11 female) that had undergone total meniscectomy as adolescents (mean age 16 years) underwent FISP 3D Magnetic Resonance Imaging at a mean follow up of 30 years. The presence of meniscal tissue was assessed by two independent observers blinded to the operation details. The volume of any meniscal tissue present was calculated. A posterior horn remnant was seen in 57% of medial and 45% of lateral meniscectomy cases. The mean volume of an operated medial meniscal remnant was 0.29 mL compared with a mean volume of 1.15 mL for an intact medial meniscus. The mean volume of an operated lateral meniscal remnant was 0.30 mL compared with 1.07 mL for an intact lateral meniscus. We have shown that the incidence of incomplete excision of the posterior horn is more common after total medial meniscectomy, and that at a mean follow up of 30 years there is no convincing in vivo MRI evidence of long-term meniscal regeneration.

Magnetic resonance imaging, scintigraphy, and arthroscopic evaluation of traumatic hemarthrosis of the knee.

Forty patients with traumatic knee hemarthrosis were examined within 1 week after injury and observations made with magnetic resonance imaging, scintigraphy, arthroscopic evaluation, radiography, and physical examination were compared. Thirty-four patients (85%) had anterior cruciate ligament injuries according to the arthroscopic findings and 28 (83%) of these had associated meniscal tears. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the arthroscopic findings, especially if only meniscal tears that required surgery were taken into account (sensitivity, 94% for the lateral and 83% for the medial meniscus). However, the specificity of magnetic resonance imaging was only 29% and 27% for the lateral and medial menisci, respectively, and the accuracy was 28% and 50%, respectively. Marrow edemas, or bone bruises, were seen on magnetic resonance imaging in 80% of the patients and were mainly seen in the lateral compartment. Bone scans correlated well with magnetic resonance imaging findings of marrow edemas. Plain radiographs were normal in all but one case. We show that magnetic resonance imaging does not add information on the status of the anterior cruciate ligament compared with the clinical examination, and that it may be as good as arthroscopic evaluation for the diagnosis of meniscal tears that require surgery.

Osteoarthritis of the knee after injury to the anterior cruciate ligament or meniscus: the influence of time and age.

The degree of cartilage changes by arthroscopic and radiologic examination was evaluated in a retrospective, cross-sectional study of 1012 patients with knee complaints at different times after knee injury. Patients were classified by age, sex, trauma date and type of injury. The condition of the cartilage was graded on a 1-10 scale based on findings at arthroscopy and on weight-bearing radiographs. Patients with injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (isolated or combined with injury to meniscus or collateral ligaments) showed the first radiologic signs (joint space narrowing) of osteoarthritis (OA) at an average age of about 40 years, while patients with isolated meniscus injury had the same stage of disease at an average age of about 50 years. Both study groups displayed the first radiologic signs of OA on average about 10 years after the injury and showed increasingly serious arthroscopic and radiologic signs of joint damage with increased time between injury and examination. For patients who sustained an isolated meniscus injury between the ages of 17 and 30, the average time until development of radiologic signs of OA was about 15 years, while for those who had the same injury over the age of 30, the corresponding time interval was only about 5 years. We conclude from this that knee OA becomes increasingly severe with increased time between joint injury and examination. OA changes appear sooner in older patients with knee injury than in the young.