Detection of early osteoarthritis in canine knee joints 3 weeks post ACL transection by microscopic MRI and biomechanical measurement

• Main Authors: Daniel Mittelstaedt, David Kahn, Yang Xia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2018-06-01
• Series: Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2309499018778357

Purpose: To detect early osteoarthritis (OA) in a canine Pond–Nuki model 3 weeks after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) transection surgery, both topographically over the medial tibial surface and depth-dependently over the cartilage thickness. Methods: Four topographical locations on each OA and contralateral medial tibia were imaged individually by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 17.6 µm transverse resolution. The quantitative MRI T 2 relaxation data were correlated with the biomechanical stress-relaxation measurements from adjacent locations. Results: OA cartilage was thinner than the contralateral tissue and had a lower modulus compared to the contralateral cartilage for the exterior, interior, and central medial tibia locations. Depth-dependent and topographical variations were detected in OA cartilage by a number of parameters (compressive modulus, glycosaminoglycan concentration, bulk and zonal thicknesses, T 2 at 0° and 55° specimen orientations in the magnet). T 2 demonstrated significant differences at varying depths between OA and contralateral cartilage. Conclusion: ACL transection caused a number of changes in the tibial cartilage at 3 weeks after the surgery. The characteristics of these changes, which are topographic and depth-dependent, likely reflect the complex degradation in this canine model of OA at the early developmental stage.