ARTHROSCOPIC EVALUATION OF CHONDROPATHY IN OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE

Objective. To evaluate arthroscopic findings as a potential measuremen t of severity and outcome of chondropathy. Methods. 110 patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) were included in a cross sectional study and 41 of them in a one year longitudinal study. The evaluation of OA perf ormed once in the cross sectional study and twice (at entry and after one year) in the longitudinal study, included clinical, radiologic:al and arthroscopic variables evaluating disease activity and severity. A rthroscopy was performed under local anesthesia in an outpatient proce dure using a small arthroscope. Chondropathy was evaluated by the over all assessment of the investigator by visual analog scale and the Soci ete Francaise d'Arthroscopie (SFA) scoring and grading systems, which represent a composite index taking into account depth, size, and local ization of the articular cartilage lesions. Results. The intrinsic val idity of the arthroscopic variables was suggested by highly significan t correlation (R(2) = 80-85%) between the overall assessment of the in vestigator and the SFA systems. There was also highly significant corr elation (p < 0.01) between the arthroscopic and radiological variables . Intraobserver reliability of the arthroscopic quantification of chon dropathy was better than interobserver reliability. In the cross secti onal study, severity of chondropathy correlated with both age and body mass index. In the longitudinal study there was statistically signifi cant worsening in tile severity of chondropathy and statistically sign ificant correlation between the changes in the severity of chondropath y and changes in functional impairment. Conclusion. We conclude that a rthroscopy might be considered a relevant measurement of OA outcome fo r research purposes.