Coronal tibiofemoral subluxation in knee osteoarthritis

Objective: To analyze knees in varying stages of osteoarthritis (OA) for the presence of coronal tibiofemoral (CTF) subluxation and to determine if CTF subluxation severity is related to knee OA worsening. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated CTF subluxation and limb alignment in 113 patients with different stages of knee OA who were being considered for an arthroplasty procedure. Knee OA was classified as “mild” or “severe” according to Kellgren-Lawrence scale. CTF subluxation was measured in the study groups and in 40 knees of healthy controls using software developed specifically on the basis of Iterative Closest Point mathematical algorithm. Results: Mean CTF subluxation in “mild OA” and “severe OA” groups was 3.5 % (±2) and 3.5 % (±5) of the tibial plateau, respectively. For both the mild and severe OA groups, CTF subluxation was significantly increased compared to the 1.4 % (±1) CTF subluxation in the control group, (p < 0.0001) and (p = 0.012), respectively. However, there was no significant difference in CTF subluxation between the mild OA and severe OA groups (p = 0.75). Limb varus malalignment in mild OA and severe OA groups was 3.6° (±2.2) and 5.3° (±2.6), respectively. Both significantly increased comparing to the 1° (±0.7) control group alignment (p < 0.0001). Varus malalignment in the severe OA group was significantly increased comparing to the mild OA group (p = 0.0003). Conclusions: CTF subluxation is a radiographic finding related to knee OA which occurs mainly in the early stages of the osteoarthritic process and stagnates as OA progresses.