Title
Radiographic assessment of the femorotibial joint of the CCLT rabbit experimental model of osteoarthritis.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The purposes of the study were to determine the relevance and validity of in vivo non-invasive radiographic assessment of the CCLT (Cranial Cruciate Ligament Transection) rabbit model of osteoarthritis (OA) and to estimate the pertinence, reliability and reproducibility of a radiographic OA (ROA) grading scale and associated radiographic atlas. METHODS: In vivo non-invasive extended non weight-bearing radiography of the rabbit femorotibial joint was standardized. Two hundred and fifty radiographs from control and CCLT rabbits up to five months after surgery were reviewed by three readers. They subsequently constructed an original semi-quantitative grading scale as well as an illustrative atlas of individual ROA feature for the medial compartment. To measure agreements, five readers independently scored the same radiographic sample using this atlas and three of them performed a second reading. To evaluate the pertinence of the ROA grading scale, ROA results were compared with gross examination in forty operated and ten control rabbits. RESULTS: Radiographic osteophytes of medial femoral condyles and medial tibial condyles were scored on a four point scale and dichotomously for osteophytes of medial fabella. Medial joint space width was scored as normal, reduced or absent. Each ROA features was well correlated with gross examination (p s = 0.68 and rs = 0.58, p s = 0.64, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Non-invasive in vivo radiography of the rabbit femorotibial joint is feasible, relevant and allows a reproducible grading of experimentally induced OA lesion. The radiographic grading scale and atlas presented could be used as a template for in vivo non invasive grading of ROA in preclinical studies and could allow future comparisons between studies.
Year
DOI
Venue
2010
10.1186/1471-2342-10-3
BMC Medical Imaging
Keywords
Field
DocType
Joint Space Narrowing, Medial Compartment, Medial Femoral Condyle, Joint Space Width, Meniscal Lesion
Tibia,Osteoarthritis,Medial femoral condyle,Femur,Anterior cruciate ligament,Radiography,Radiology,Cruciate ligament,Medicine,Femorotibial joint
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
10
1
1471-2342
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
1
0.35
0
Authors
11