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Background:

Subchondral cysts have always been taught to be one of the cardinal radiological features of knee osteoarthritis but are not well understood. We aimed to evaluate the radiological prevalence and epidemiology of subchondral cysts in patients with knee osteoarthritis to determine if they are truly a cardinal radiological feature.

Methods:

All patients of a single surgeon with symptoms of knee osteoarthritis were selected for this study. All patients had failed a trial of conservative therapy and were planned for total knee arthroplasty. Patients with symptoms of and documentary evidence of inflammatory arthritis, other neurological and orthopaedic problems causing functional deficits were excluded from this study. A total of 806 plain radiographs were analyzed with the aid of an atlas for the presence of narrowed joint space, osteophytes, subchondral sclerosis and subchondral cysts. The radiological prevalence …