Magnetic resonance imaging analysis of kinematics in osteoarthritic knees.

Kinematics in osteoarthritic knees may be impeding efforts to reproduce "normal" knee kinematics in the prosthetic knee. Fourteen subjects with unilateral symptomatic knee osteoarthritis performed a supine leg press from 0 degrees to 90 degrees flexion against a 150-N load. The tibiofemoral contact pattern was recorded for both knees using sagittal T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Severity of osteoarthritis ranged from Kellgren Lawrence grade 2 to 4 in the symptomatic knees and from 0 to 3 in the contralateral knees. Contact in the lateral and medial compartments of osteoarthritic knees was more anterior on the tibial plateau than healthy knees, both in knee extension and to 90 degrees flexion (P < .01). This anterior contact pattern was associated with severity of osteoarthritis (P < .01).