Abstract
Objective: With the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), idiopathic osteonecrosis of the knee can now be diagnosed at an early stage. We report the clinical results of 34 patients with this disease, some of whom received conservative treatment and some of whom underwent surgery.
Methods: Eleven male and 23 female patients with a mean age of 62.3 years (range 47-77 years) were involved in this study, and 36 knee joints were treated. Twenty-five patients (27 knees) had pathological changes in the medial femoral condyle, two in the lateral femoral condyle, four in the medial tibial plateau, and three in the patella.
Results: Surgery was performed on 16 knees with lesions of the medial femoral condyle, and the other 11 knees received conservative treatment. In these two groups, the body mass index (BMI) and the extent of necrosis showed significant differences. Of the four knees with lesions of the medial tibial plateau, two underwent surgery and two healed with conservative treatment.
Conclusion: In this study, we found that the use of MRI facilitated the early diagnosis of idiopathic osteonecrosis. There was a significant difference in BMI and the extent of necrosis between patients undergoing surgical and conservative treatments.
