Histological Characteristics of Knee Menisci in Patients with Osteoarthritis

Meniscal injury is a common source of knee pain, and it is argued that meniscal lesions can lead to osteoarthritis (OA) or OA can lead to meniscal lesions. Existing data indicate knee menisci in patients with OA show tearing, maceration, and fragmentation. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the histological structure of the menisci from patients with clinically diagnosed OA of the knee and to determine factors related to these changes. Medial and lateral menisci samples, demographic data, and Outerbridge classification scores (OCS, range 0–IV) of cartilage from the medial tibial plateau (MTP), medial femoral condyle (MFC), lateral tibial plateau (LTP), and lateral femoral condyle (LFC) were obtained with informed consent from 10 patients (6 female, 4 male) undergoing total knee arthroplasty for treatment of clinically diagnosed OA. Tissue samples were fixed in 10% buffered formaldehyde solution and 5–10 mm cross-sections were taken from the middle of the medial and lateral menisci for furthe...