Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36937824›Full record

ReviewTherapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease2023

Early knee OA definition-what do we know at this stage? An imaging perspective.

Xiaojuan Li, Frank W Roemer, Flavia Cicuttini, Jamie W MacKay, Tom Turmezei, Thomas M Link

Open access · goldAbstract readAddressReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
7.0field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Isolation of synovial fluid exosomes using phospholipid molecular imprinting technology and discovery of early diagnostic markers for osteoarthritis.Analytical sciences : the international journal of the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.

Xiaojuan LiDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Frank W RoemerDepartment of Radiology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9238-7350
Flavia CicuttiniMusculoskeletal Unit, Monash University and Rheumatology, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Jamie W MacKayDepartment of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Tom TurmezeiDepartment of Radiology, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Norwich, UK.
Thomas M LinkDepartment of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Ave, A-367, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2850-8143
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine · USFriedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg · DEMonash University · AUNorfolk and Norwich University Hospital · GBUniversity of California, San Francisco · USUniversity of East Anglia · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

While criteria for early-stage knee osteoarthritis (OA) in a primary care setting have been proposed, the role of imaging has been limited to radiography using the standard Kellgren-Lawrence classification. Standardized imaging and interpretation are critical with radiographs, yet studies have also shown that even early stages of radiographic OA already demonstrate advanced damage to knee joint tissues such as cartilage, menisci, and bone marrow. Morphological magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows degenerative damage earlier than radiographs and definitions for OA using MRI have been published though no accepted definition of early OA based on MRI is currently available. The clinical significance of structural abnormalities has also not been well defined, and the differentiation between normal aging and structural OA development remains a challenge. Compositional MRI of cartilage provides information on biochemical, degenerative changes within the cartilage matrix before cartilage defects occur and when cartilage damage is potentially reversible. Studies have shown that cartilage composition can predict cartilage loss and radiographic OA. However, while this technology is most promising for characterizing early OA it has currently limited clinical application. Better standardization of compositional MRI is required, which is currently work in progress. Finally, there has been renewed interest in computed tomography (CT) for assessing early knee OA as new techniques such as weight bearing and spectral CT are available, which may provide information on joint loading, cartilage, and bone and potentially have a role in better characterizing early OA. In conclusion, while imaging may have a limited role in diagnosing early OA in a primary care setting, there are advanced imaging technologies available, which detect early degeneration and may thus significantly alter management as new therapeutic modalities evolve.

Indexed as

CTimagingMRIosteoarthritisradiographs

Identifiers

PMID36937824
PMCPMC10017942
OpenAlexW4324280479

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.