Mylène Jansen

CT subchondral bone changes after KJD 387 18 Figure 6 : Bone shape changes 1 (left) and 2 (middle) years after treatment with knee joint distraction, and 2 years compared to 1-year post-treatment (right), for patients with predominantly medial compartmental osteoarthritis (n=14). Red colors indicate inward changes; blue colors indicate outward changes. Discussion This exploratory study demonstrates that in end-stage OA patients, KJD treatment causes remodeling of the subchondral bone plate especially in the first year after treatment and most notably in the most affected compartment, characterized by a decrease in subchondral cortical bone plate thickness, a decrease in subchondral trabecular thickness, and a rounding of the bone shape (more convex for the femur and less concave for the tibia). The first-year changes are largely sustained throughout the second year and go paired with overall bone shape alterations. In these same patients, significant clinical improvement and cartilage restoration have previously been reported in the same time period. 6,10,13,14,19 Apparently not only cartilage is repaired, but also bone shows alterations in architecture and shape that could be considered