Purpose
In capitellar osteochondritis dissecans (OCD), unstable lesions generally demonstrate
signs of subchondral sclerosis. We postulate that OCD lesions have abnormal subchondral
bone density. We aimed to quantify the subchondral bone thickness around OCD lesions
using conventional computed tomography (CT) imaging.
Methods
This retrospective study included 15 patients with capitellar OCD (OCD group) and
12 patients with an unaffected radio-capitellar joint (control group). We constructed
3-dimensional humerus models using CT data and quantified the bone density with colored
contour mapping to determine the subchondral bone thickness. We measured the thickness
relative to the condylar height at the centroid and lateral, medial, superior, and
inferior edge points of the OCD lesion, and compared the findings between the groups.
We then correlated the CT measurements with the magnetic resonance imaging measurements.
Results
Subchondral bone thickness at the centroid and lateral, medial, superior, and inferior
edges in the OCD group was significantly higher than that in the control group. Correlation
analyses revealed that the magnetic resonance imaging measurements highly correlated
with the CT subchondral bone measurements.
Conclusions
We found that there is a zone of increased subchondral bone thickness around OCD lesions that should be considered during drilling, microfracture, or other
reconstruction methods. We observed a high correlation with low errors between the
measurements taken from conventional CT images and the measurements from magnetic
resonance imaging, suggesting that both modalities are useful in clinical decision
making.
Type of study/level of evidence
Diagnostic IV.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 25, 2021
Accepted:
June 17,
2021
Received:
June 20,
2020
Footnotes
Dr Miyamura received personal fees from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Dr Lans received personal fees from AxoGen. Dr Chen received personal fees from Flexion Medical, Miami Device Solutions, DePuy Synthes, Miami Device Solutions, Flexion Medical, Depuy Synthes, AO International, Skeletal Dynamics, OMeGA, and Acumed. No benefits in any form have been received or will be received by the rest of the authors related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.
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