Prevalence of patellar chondropathies observed in 3 Teslas MRI and its relationship with rheumatic diseases

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Patellar chondropathies are pathologies characterized by pain and damage to the articular cartilage. Some rheumatological diseases often affect large joints, especially the knee.

Objectives: To analyze the prevalence of patellar chondropathies in 3T MRI and its relati- onship with rheumatic diseases. As well as correlate with sociodermographic data (age and sex); refer type of chondropathy and its respective severity.

Materials and methods: reports and 3T MRI images of the knees were collected from 131 patients in the period from December 2020 to January 2021. Other data were collected from computer systems of the clinic and and public health and telephone survey.

Results: 131 patients were evaluated from 153 MRI examinations, the majority between 40 and 60 years old. Of the total number of participants, 55% (n = 72) presented patellar chon- dropathy, with 30.5% having chondromalacia (n = 22) and 52.7% women (n = 38). Most of the patients presented Grade III according to the Outerbridge classification (47.2%). A 63.6% of the carriers of rheumatological diseases had patellar chondropathy.

Conclusion: Most patients who done a knee 3T MRI were carriers of patellar chondropathy being more prevalent in grade III and in women. There is a 2.18 times higher risk of having chondromalacia when the patient have chondropathy patellae. The risk of rheumatic di- sease is almost five times higher when the patient have chondropathy. Aging increases the risk of rheumatic disease by 1.03 times. Being a carrier of chondromalacia increases the risk of suffering from rheumatological disease by 4.34 times.