TY - JOUR T1 - Hand Joint Space Narrowing and Osteophytes Are Associated with Magnetic Resonance Imaging-defined Knee Cartilage Thickness and Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol DO - 10.3899/jrheum.110603 SP - jrheum.110603 AU - Ida K. Haugen AU - Sebastian Cotofana AU - Martin Englund AU - Tore K. Kvien AU - Donatus Dreher AU - Michael Nevitt AU - Nancy E. Lane AU - Felix Eckstein Y1 - 2011/11/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2011/10/28/jrheum.110603.abstract N2 - Objective To evaluate whether features of radiographic hand osteoarthritis (OA) are associated with quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-defined knee cartilage thickness, radiographic knee OA, and 1-year structural progression. Methods A total of 765 participants in Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI; 455 women, mean age 62.5 yrs, SD 9.4) obtained hand radiographs (at baseline), knee radiographs (baseline and Year 1), and knee MRI (baseline and Year 1). Hand radiographs were scored for presence of osteophytes and joint space narrowing (JSN). Knee radiographs were scored according to the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) scale. Cartilage thickness in the medial and lateral femorotibial compartments was measured quantitatively from coronal FLASHwe images. We examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between features of hand OA (total osteophyte and JSN scores) and knee cartilage thickness, 1-year knee cartilage thinning (above smallest detectable change), presence of knee OA (KL grade ≥ 3), and progression of knee OA (KL change ≥ 1) by linear and logistic regression. Both hand OA features were included in a multivariate model (if p ≤ 0.25) adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). Results Hand JSN was associated with reduced knee cartilage thickness (ß = –0.02, 95% CI –0.03, –0.01) in the medial femorotibial compartment, while hand osteophytes were associated with the presence of radiographic knee OA (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.03–1.18; multivariate models) with both hand OA features as independent variables adjusted for age, sex, and BMI). Radiographic features of hand OA were not associated with 1-year cartilage thinning or radiographic knee OA progression. Conclusion Our results support a systemic OA susceptibility and possibly different mechanisms for osteophyte formation and cartilage thinning. ER -