MRI DETERMINED BONE MARROW EDEMA IN OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Though osteoarthritis (OA) is highly prevalent and includes compromised articular cartilage, subchondral bone, and synovium, pain as a symptom drives much of the disability, requirement for therapy and health care costs. There is a very limited understanding of how OA pain patterns are related to tissue in the joint, particularly since cartilage does not have nerve endings that are required to feel pain. However, a better understanding of the processes leading to the development and perpetuation of painful OA, in relation to joint structures, is likely to extend the number of options for intervention. This application contributes to a series of studies to determine if pain in OA is associated with bone marrow edema (BME), observable only with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It is proposed that this "edema" or fluid accumulation increases the pressure within bone in joints and activates pain receptors in the bone. It is further proposed that BME comes, in part, from mal-distributed weight-bearing forces on the knee and is most likely initiated or perpetuated by obesity. Currently, BME is evaluated qualitatively based on a 3-level determination of the size of a lesion. We propose to develop a quantitative approach to measure BME and describe the reproducibility of that approach with MRI.