Quantitatively Measured Infrapatellar Fat Pad Signal Intensity Alteration is Associated with Joint Effusion-synovitis in Knee Osteoarthritis

Guangfeng Ruan; Shilong Lu; Yan Zhang; Zhaohua Zhu; Peihua Cao; Xiaoshuai Wang; Jia Li; Su'an Tang; Tianyu Chen; Weiyu Han; Jianwei Zhu; Di Chen; Benny Antony; Tania Winzenberg; Anita E Wluka; Flavia Cicuttini; Changhai Ding

doi:10.2174/1573405619666230310093402

Quantitatively Measured Infrapatellar Fat Pad Signal Intensity Alteration is Associated with Joint Effusion-synovitis in Knee Osteoarthritis

Curr Med Imaging. 2023 Mar 10. doi: 10.2174/1573405619666230310093402. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Guangfeng Ruan¹, Shilong Lu², Yan Zhang¹, Zhaohua Zhu¹, Peihua Cao¹, Xiaoshuai Wang¹, Jia Li¹, Su'an Tang¹, Tianyu Chen¹, Weiyu Han¹, Jianwei Zhu³, Di Chen⁴, Benny Antony⁵, Tania Winzenberg⁵, Anita E Wluka⁶, Flavia Cicuttini⁶, Changhai Ding¹

Affiliations

¹ Zhujiang Hospital Clinical Research Centre Guangzhou China.
² Zhujiang Hospital Imaging Diagnosis Department Guangzhou China.
³ Guangzhou First People\'s Hospital Department of orthopedics Guangzhou China.
⁴ Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Shenzhen China.
⁵ University of Tasmania Menzies Institute for Medical Research Hobart Australia.
⁶ Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine Melbourne Australia.

PMID: 36895124
DOI: 10.2174/1573405619666230310093402

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate whether quantitatively measured infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) signal intensity alteration is associated with joint effusion-synovitis in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA) over two years.

Methods: Among 255 knee OA patients, IPFP signal intensity alteration represented by four measurement parameters [standard deviation of IPFP signal intensity (IPFP sDev), upper quartile value of IPFP high signal intensity region (IPFP UQ (H)), ratio of IPFP high signal intensity region volume to whole IPFP volume (IPFP percentage (H)), and clustering factor of IPFP high signal intensity (IPFP clustering factor (H))] was measured quantitatively at baseline and two-year follow-up using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Effusion-synovitis of the suprapatellar pouch and other cavities were measured both quantitatively and semi-quantitatively as effusion-synovitis volume and effusion-synovitis score at baseline and two-year follow-up using MRI. Mixed effects models assessed the associations between IPFP signal intensity alteration and effusion-synovitis over two years.

Results: In multivariable analyses, all four parameters of IPFP signal intensity alteration were positively associated with total effusion-synovitis volume and effusion-synovitis volumes of the suprapatellar pouch and of other cavities over two years (all P＜0.05). They were also associated with the semi-quantitative measure of effusion-synovitis except for IPFP percentage (H) with effusion-synovitis in other cavities.

Conclusion: Quantitatively measured IPFP signal intensity alteration is positively associated with joint effusion-synovitis in people with knee OA, suggesting that IPFP signal intensity alteration may contribute to effusion-synovitis and a coexistent pattern of these two imaging biomarkers could exist in knee OA patients.

Keywords: effusion-synovitis; infrapatellar fat pad; magnetic resonance imaging; osteoarthritis; quantitatively measured; signal intensity alteration.