A STUDY ON THE ULTRASOUND AND X-RAY IMAGING FEATURES OF KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS PATIENTS AT CAN THO UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY HOSPITAL IN 2022-2023

Abstract

Background: Today, the diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the knee is mainly based on clinical symptoms combined with X-ray films, this method has a low specificity, especially in the early stages, so when it is diagnosed, it is usually in the late stages. Therefore, ultrasound can be used to screen and accurately assess the structural damage that occurs in knee osteoarthritis in the early stages, and ultrasound can also assess the thickness of the articular cartilage, inflammation of the synovial membrane, and effusion in the joint cavity, ... especially when there are no clinical manifestations or no damage on X-ray images. Objective: To describe the ultrasound and X-ray imaging features of knee osteoarthritis patients. To compare the specificity of ultrasound images with X-ray images of knee osteoarthritis patients. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study. A total of 50 patients and 62 knee joints were diagnosed with osteoarthritis according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1991 criteria. Results: Radiographs showed the highest proportion of grade 1 osteophytes. Images of grade 0 narrowing of the medial and lateral knee joints were mostly present on radiographs. Ultrasound also detected the highest proportion of grade 1 osteophytes; a high proportion of grade 1 narrowing of the medial knee joint and a majority of grade 0 narrowing of the lateral knee joint were observed. Ultrasound detected synovial membrane thickening in up to 90,3% and bursitis in up to 87,1%. There was fair correlation between the grading of osteophytes and joint space narrowing on ultrasound and radiographs. Conclusion: There is a correlation between the grading of bone spurs and joint space narrowing on ultrasound and X-ray images of the knee joint (the grading of bone spurs and joint space narrowing on ultrasound images is similar to that on X-ray images). Ultrasound can also detect thickened synovial membrane and inflammation of the synovial membrane that cannot be determined by X-ray. Keywords: ultrasound, X-ray, knee osteoarthritis.