Alice La Marra MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Silvia Mariani MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Andrea Mancini MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Luigi Zugaro, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Antonio Barile MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Carlo Masciocchi MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

To compare long-term results of PRP and HA intra-articular therapy, in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

On the basis of clinical and radiological diagnosis of OA of the knee we selected 223 patients treated in our department with intra-articular injection of HA (105 pts: Group A) and PRP (118 pts: Group B). Exclusion criteria were rheumatic and /or hematology diseases. All patients were submitted to MRI before and 1 year after infiltrative treatment. To homogenize the results we divided the patients into 2 subgroups on the basis of the age and gender: group Aa (70 pts aged between 62/81; 36 males and 34 females) and Ab (35 pts aged between 36/61; 19 males and 16 females). Group Ba (38 pts aged between 62/81; 20 males and 18 females) and Bb (80 pts aged between 37/61; 42 males and 38 females ). In all patients clinical (VAS 0-10) and functional (WOMAC 0-240) evaluations were performed, before and 1 year after treatment. We created an imaging scale ranging from a minimum of 0 to a maximum score of 11, on the basis of the distribution of the joint effusion (articular recesses, periarticular bursae), the side of the chondral damage (medial and lateral compartments, patello-femoral compartment), and the presence or not of subchondral edema .

Statistically significant age-related differences were observed in our study. Group Aa: MRI showed an improvement of about 60% (10 pre-treatment and 4 after treatment; P < 0.01), with VAS improvement of about 40% and Womac of about 65%; Group Ab: MRI showed an improvement of about 29% (7 pre-treatment and 5 after treatment; P< 0.01) with VAS improvement of about 52% and Womac of about 42%. Group Ba: MRI showed an improvement of about 30% ( 10 pre-treatment and 7 after treatment; P<0.01) with VAS improvement of about 36 % and Womac of about 35% ; Group Bb: MRI showed an improvement of about 86% (7 pre-treatment and 1 after treatment; P< 0.01) with VAS improvement of about 82% and Womac of about 60%.

Our result show improvements in symptomatology, function, and imaging in all patients, with better results in young pts treated with PRP (37-61 years) and in older pts treated with HA (62-82).

Our study shows that in cases of OA, MRI can be a valid technique both to document the improvement of the patients after infiltrative treatment and to plan their subsequent management.

La Marra, A, Mariani, S, Mancini, A, Zugaro, L, Barile, A, Masciocchi, C, Osteoarthritis of the Knee Treated with Intra-articular Hyaluronic Acid (HA) and Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) Injection: Clinical, Functional and MRI Evaluation of 1 year Follow-up.  Radiological Society of North America 2014 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, - ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2014/14045575.html