The association between metacarpal ratio, radiographic hand and knee osteoarthritis and its progression after meniscectomy

SummaryObjectiveTo examine whether the ratio of the second and fourth metacarpal bone length (MC2:MC4) in subjects with prior meniscectomy of the knee is associated with radiographic hand and knee osteoarthritis (OA) and its progression.DesignWe assessed 219 subjects (175 men and 44 women) twice with a follow-up time ranging from 4 to 10 years. Participants had all undergone prior meniscectomy. The subjects were of mean (SD) 53 (11) years of age at the first radiographic examination. One observer measured the metacarpal lengths of both hands. We used the average MC2:MC4 from left and right hand divided into tertiles as the exposure variable, using the highest tertile, i.e., “female” pattern as reference category. Radiographic OA of both hands and knees and its progression were evaluated on subject level as our outcomes. We used logistic regression to evaluate the possible association of MC2:MC4 with hand and knee OA and its progression with adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, and follow-up time.ResultsWe found no statistically significant association between the lower MC2:MC4 tertile “male” pattern and prevalent hand OA (odds ratio [OR] 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.24–1.99) and prevalent knee OA (OR 1.08; 95% CI 0.56–2.07). Neither did we find any corresponding significant association for the progression of hand OA (OR 0.89; 95% CI 0.34–2.32), nor knee OA (OR 0.69; 95% CI 0.33–1.46).ConclusionsWe did not detect any association between MC2:MC4 and radiographic hand and knee OA and its progression in subjects with prior meniscectomy.