What are subchondral changes?
Subchondral sclerosis is the hardening of the bone just below the cartilage surface. It shows up in the later stages of osteoarthritis. Subchondral sclerosis is common in the bones found at the load-bearing joints, such as knees and hips. Other joints can be affected, including the hand, foot, or spine.
What is subchondral signal?
Subchondral bone marrow signal alterations may be observed in conjunction with trauma, chronic cartilage damage and osteoarthritis (OA), as an idiopathic entity or as a concomitant feature of other pathologies such as osteonecrosis, inflammation or tumor.
Where is subchondral bone located?
The subchondral bone is located deep to the articular cartilage, but remains connected to it through a layer of calcified cartilage.
Why does subchondral sclerosis occur?
Symptom and Causes Osteoarthritis degrades the cartilage in a joint and wears away at the subchondral bone underneath the cartilage. The body tries to repair the damaged bone. As the bone is remodeled, it comes back thicker than before, resulting in subchondral sclerosis.
What is subchondral erosion?
Bone erosions refer to focal bony defects in the subchondral bone plate or cortical bone and the adjacent trabecular bone. Unlike bone cysts, the cortical or subchondral bone is also affected.
What does bone erosion feel like?
Why does bone erosion occur? RA causes chronic inflammation, which leads to gradual bone erosion. Classic RA symptoms include swollen joints, joint stiffness, and joint pain. Some people also have fatigue and loss of appetite.
Are there any histopathological changes in the subchondral bone?
Some histopathological changes in the subchondral bone have also been detected, including microdamage, bone marrow edema-like lesions and bone cysts. This review summarizes basic features of the osteochondral junction, which comprises subchondral bone and articular cartilage.
What are the symptoms of subchondral sclerosis?
Subchondral sclerosis, which is also called marginal sclerosis, is a thickening of the bone beneath the cartilage in joints. It can be associated with painful joint symptoms and bone spurs. Subchondral sclerosis is commonly seen in joints of the knee, hip, spine, and foot.
How does physical activity affect the subchondral bone?
Physical activity. In a canine experiment, running enhanced bone remodeling in subchondral bone regions, resulting in thicker subchondral bone plate and higher trabecular volume [ 64 ]. Subchondral bone responds to the stress of exercise by increasing bone formation and density in an attempt to increase strength [ 65 ].
What does subchondral mean in relation to cartilage?
Subchondral bone is the layer of bone just below the cartilage in a joint. the -chondral refers to cartilage, while the prefix sub means below. Subchondral bone is a shock absorber in weight-bearing joints. It has many blood vessels supplying it with nutrients and oxygen and taking away wastes.