Articular cartilage lesions of the knee

Abstract The pathogenesis and clinical significance of articular cartilage lesions of the knee persist as topics of considerable interest among orthopedic surgeons. This study was designed to assess the association of articular cartilage degeneration with concomitant intraarticular abnormalities and to correlate the prevalence and severity of articular cartilage damage with preoperative historical and physical exam findings in patients presenting with knee pain. Twenty-six history and physical exam data points were prospectively collected from 192 patients (200 knees), consecutively undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. During surgery, all articular cartilage lesions were recorded with respect to size, location, and character and were graded according to Oglivie-Harris et al. (1). All concomitant knee joint abnormalities were simultaneously recorded. Of 200 knees examined arthroscopically, 12 knees revealed no demonstrable etiology for the presenting symptoms, 65 knees revealed assorted intraarticular pathology but no articular cartilage degeneration, and the remaining 123 knees revealed a total of 211 articular cartilage lesions (103 femoral, 72 patellar, 36 tibial); 7 femoral, 6 patellar and 0 tibial lesions were completely isolated (no concomitant knee joint pathology). The concomitance of femoral defects with tibial lesions was highly significant (p = 0.01). Femoral and tibial articular cartilage lesions were strikingly correlated with the presence of an unstable torn meniscus (p