Patellar Cartilage Evolution is Linked to Intra-Limb Baseline Hip Femoral Cartilage: Longitudinal Compositional Multi-Joint Study

Motivation: From gait-retraining perspective, it is crucial to identify the early effects of hip OA, specifically hip cartilage degradation, on the evolution of knee cartilage. Goal(s): To evaluate whether longitudinal changes in contralateral knee patellar cartilage proteoglycan composition are associated with baseline hip femoral cartilage compositional behavior. Approach: Comparisons between baseline and follow-up knee patellar T1p study participants were performed. Correlation between relative change in knee patellar cartilage across visits) and baseline T1p of intra-limb hip femoral subregional cartilages were performed. Results: Relative changes in knee patellar T1p were negatively associated with baseline T1p of intra-limb hip femoral load-bearing posterior-superior cartilage subregion. Impact: Relationship between longitudinal changes in patellar T1p and baseline T1p of intra-limb hip-femoral load-bearing cartilage, might be useful for the prevention of polyarticular OA development and lead to a better understanding of the propagation of OA from hip to knee.