ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2016
Natural history and clinical significance of meniscal tears over 8 years in a midlife cohort.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Arthroscopic meniscal surgery versus conservative management in patients aged 40 years and older: a meta-analysis.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2018Pooled it
- The Impact of Aging on Meniscal Tears and Chondral Lesions in Men: Insights from First-Time Arthroscopic Knee Evaluation.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Current Controversies in Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy.Current reviews in musculoskeletal medicine · 2022Review
- Application of Disease Etiology and Natural History to Prevention in Primary Health Care: A Discourse.Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre · 2020Review
- Characterization and Comparison of Postnatal Rat Meniscus Stem Cells at Different Developmental Stages.Stem cells translational medicine · 2019Article
- Effect of degenerative and radial tears of the meniscus and resultant meniscectomy on the knee joint: a finite element analysis.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2019Article
- Short cracks in knee meniscus tissue cause strain concentrations, but do not reduce ultimate stress, in single-cycle uniaxial tension.Royal Society open science · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is limited longitudinal data available on the natural history of meniscal tears especially in middle-aged adults with a low prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA). The aim of this study was to describe the natural history of meniscal tears over 8 years and the relationship with change in knee pain and structures.
methodsOne hundred ninety eight participants [mean age 47 (28-63); 57% female] were studied at baseline and 8 years later. Approximately half were the adult offspring of subjects who had a knee replacement performed for knee OA and the remainder were randomly selected controls. Meniscal tears/extrusion, cartilage volume/defects, bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and effusion were assessed on MRI. Knee pain was assessed using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index.
results22% of the participants had at least one meniscal tear at any site at baseline. Over 8 years, 16% of the participants had an increase in severity of meniscal tears while none improved. Increase in meniscal tear score was associated with worsening knee pain (β = +2.81 (+1.40, +4.22)), with offspring having a significantly greater increase in pain severity compared to controls. BMI and presence of osteophytes at baseline, but not knee injury, predicted change in tears, whereas change in meniscal tears was independently associated with cartilage volume loss, change in BMLs and change in meniscal extrusion.
conclusionChange in meniscal tears shares risk factors with knee OA and is independently associated with worsening knee pain and structural damage suggesting that meniscal tears are on the knee OA causal pathway.
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