Charles Edward Hutchinson1,2, David Felson,
Michael Callaghan
1Radiology, University of
Warwick, Coventry, Warkwickshire, United Kingdom; 2Cancer &
Enabling Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, Lancashire, United
Kingdom
BMLs visualised on MRI are implicated in knee pain. In patients with knee OA, quadriceps weakness is a common clinical feature which is an important determinant of disability and is due to arthrogenous muscle inhibition (AMI). AMI has been associated with swelling of the joint and pain. Given the centrality of BMLs to OA pathology and their neural innervation, we hypothesised that subjects with patellofemoral joint (PFJ) OA and BMLs may also have AMI of the quadriceps. This study correlates the number, size and signal intensity of BMLs in PFJ OA and the percentage of quadriceps AMI, knee pain scores.