A relationship between thickness of articular cartilage of femoral head and osteoarthritis

History and Considering the incidence of osteoarthritis and its known complications and significance of its etiology and the relationship between articular cartilage and its occurrence and lack of a histopathologic study based on radiologic scoring, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between the thickness of articular cartilage and intensity of osteoarthritis in referrals of Maabari hospital and Forensic medicine center in Tehran in 2000. The case-control strategy of this study was carried out on 30 patients with fracture of femur neck and having total hip arthroplasty. For control group, 5 samples of femur head were collected from normal individuals. Samples were fixed in 10% formalin and then sliced into 6 segments. Therefore, radiological examination was performed and according to Jeffery and Meachim methods were scored into normal and grades 1-4. After decalcification, two mid-coronal sections were done on each segment and through dehydrating and blocking in paraffin, they were stained by hematoxylin and eosin. For measurement of thickness of articular cartilage, an ocular graticule (#18) was used. For statistical analysis, t-test was applied. This study was performed on 5 samples of femur head of normal cadavers with an average age of 26.4±2.7 and 30 patients including 20 cases with fracture of femur neck and 10 cases with osteoarthritis and have undergone a surgical operation. Thickness of femur head was less in patients with osteoarthritis compared to control group. There was no significant difference between case and control groups regarding anterior portion of femur head. Thickness of cartilage in middle and posterior portions in control group was 2.12±0.55 (0.52±0.83 according to scoring, P<0.05) and 1.47±0.42 (0.66±0.81 according to scoring, P<0.01) respectively. Conclusion and Recommendations: Thickness of articular cartilage, especially in upper and posterior portions of femur head is less in patients with osteoarthritis than is in normal individuals. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct research study to determine the value of radiological findings in diagnosis of changes in the thickness of articular cartilage on a histological basis and use of devices to reduce pressure in upper and posterior portions of femur head.