Aims: To create a clinical and radiological profile of patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee in Malaysia.
Methods: One hundred consecutive patients presenting with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis at a private rheumatology clinic were profiled for demographic and clinical features. Anteroposterior weight-bearing, skyline and lateral knee X-rays were taken. Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for data analysis.
Results: Women predominated (93%). Fifty-eight percent of the patients reported bilateral knee pain. Difficulty in walking, climbing and squatting was high (85%, 97% and 93% respectively). Patients with knee pain had a higher BMI than controls. Radiological abnormality, related to osteoarthritis was present in 97%. Osteophytes were generally tricompartmental while joint space narrowing was less evident in the lateral tibiofemoral joint than in the medial tibiofemoral joint and the patellofemoral joint. Almost half (49%) the patients manifested radiological varus deformity The severity of radiological abnormality increased with age. Although patients with unilateral pain had milder radiological abnormality, it tended to be bilateral. Clinically detectable hip abnormality and nodal osteoarthritis were uncommon, as was radiological chondrocalcinosis.
Conclusions: Patients presenting with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis to a rheumatology service had a high degree of disability, radiological abnormality and varus deformity. Radiological abnormalities were essentially bilateral and tricompartmental. © Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology.