Distribution of bone mineral density at the proximal tibia in knee osteoarthritis.

One hundred and thirteen knees with osteoarthritis (OA) were studied to assess the distribution of bone mineral density (BMD) in the proximal tibia and the potential relation between osteoarthritis and osteoporosis in evaluating hip BMD. All patients had severe knee pain and were diagnosed with Kellgren and Lawrence grade IV osteoarthritis. According to the magnitude of the axial deformity, four categories were created: varus>10 degrees ( 28.3%), varus 4-10 degrees (38.9%), aligned 180 +/- 3 degrees (13.3%), and valgus>4 degrees (19.5%). For each category, the medial and lateral proximal tibial density were assessed. BMD was measured at the femoral neck and at 14 regions of interest (ROI) in the proximal part of the tibia using dual X-ray absorptiometry. Based on the femoral neck BMD, patients were classified according to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of osteoporosis. The mean knee BMD was positively correlated with the hip BMD value (knee BMD m = 0.38 + 0.73 x hip BMD, r = 0.60, P<0.001). The knee BMD distribution of the 113 patients was negatively correlated with the axial deformity (BMD MT-LT = 5.15 - 0.027 x HKA, r = 0.77, P<0.0001). In the varus deformity, BMD of the medial side was higher than that of the lateral side with an important asymmetry (0.587 g/cm2). This asymmetry was also found in the valgus deformity for the lateral side but was less important (-0.112 g/cm2). With equal deformity, the asymmetry of BMD was higher in varus deformity (0.587 g/cm2) than in valgus deformity (-0.112 g/cm2). Asymmetry of the knee BMD distribution revealed that progression of the deformity (either varus or valgus) with joint space narrowing led to an increase in the medio-lateral difference of the proximal tibia density. Lesser severity of Kellgren and Lawrence grades may reveal different results. Twenty patients with osteoporosis developed knee osteoarthritis (OA) and the relation between osteoporosis and knee OA remains unclear.