Deborah Burstein1,2, Felix Eckstein3,4, Nitya Krishnan1
1Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; 2Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology , Boston, MA, USA; 3Paracelsus Medical University, Institute of Anatomy and Musculoskeletal Research, Strubergasse 21A 5020, Salzburg, Austria; 4Chondrometrics GmbH, Ainring, Germany
Data from a 2 year trial of radiography, MRI morphometry, and dGEMRIC are utilized to delineate potential new strategies for trials of OA. Indications that not all KLG0 may be healthy controls, that fast progressors are in all KL groups, and that progression occurs in many knees with thin cartilage in KLG3, suggest strategy that KLG alone may not be optimal for defining cohorts for clinical trials. dGEMRIC lesions which receded suggest a strategy of investigating vulnerable cartilage. Finally, findings indicate that there may be an effect on cartilage at the entry (first 3 months) of a clinical trial.