{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T20:58:30Z","timestamp":1782766710918,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"21","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,22]],"date-time":"2025-10-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761091200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent disease that significantly impairs quality of life among many patients. The direct evaluation of cartilage defects associated with OA in vivo is challenging, and indirect assessments using X-ray images are commonly employed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between X-ray images of finger joints and cartilage defects. Methods: This study included 42 hands from cadavers that were fixed with alcohol and formalin. After X-ray posteroanterior images of all the finger joints were taken, the extent of the cartilage defects was observed macroscopically. On X-ray images, OA was defined as a modified Kellgren\u2013Lawrence scale score of 2 or higher. Histological examinations were performed on several joints with cartilage defects to confirm whether the macroscopic cartilage defects corresponded to the histological cartilage defects. Results: A total of 588 joints were evaluated. On X-ray images, OA was observed in 20.2% of the joints, and cartilage defects were present in 45.1%. Among joints with cartilage defects, the prevalence of joints without radiographic OA was 55.1%. On the other hand, 31.1% of joints without radiographic OA had cartilage defects. Cartilage defects were identified in all joints with radiographic OA. Conclusions: The use of X-ray images to evaluate OA is beneficial; however, when interpreting radiographic OA, it is important to note that early or partial OA may not be detectable. Additionally, when OA findings are present on X-ray images, cartilage defects are always present.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics15212669","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,23]],"date-time":"2025-10-23T02:03:48Z","timestamp":1761185028000},"page":"2669","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Hand Osteoarthritis in the Elderly: The Prevalence of Articular Cartilage Defects in Radiographically Normal and Affected Joints"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Reiji","family":"Nishimura","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tohru","family":"Hashimoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7196-1413","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Takeshi","family":"Fukuda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8471, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8501-9357","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tohru","family":"Yano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kazuhiro","family":"Maeda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8618-6859","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Masataka","family":"Okabe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Takeshi","family":"Miyawaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1038\/nrrheum.2011.170","article-title":"Hand osteoarthritis\u2014A heterogeneous disorder","volume":"8","author":"Kloppenburg","year":"2011","journal-title":"Nat. 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