{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]],"date-time":"2026-07-06T11:16:28Z","timestamp":1783336588856,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,4]],"date-time":"2026-07-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783123200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) is increasingly used to assess structural changes in knee osteoarthritis (KOA), although measurement reproducibility may vary with examination protocol and operator experience. This pilot study aimed to evaluate intra- and inter-observer reliability for assessing cartilage thickness, osteophyte dimensions and meniscal displacement in supine and weight-bearing conditions in patients with KOA. Material and Methods: This prospective reliability study included patients with KOA stages 2\u20133 on the Kellgren\u2013Lawrence (K-L) scale. Ultrasound (US) evaluation of cartilage thickness and osteophytes was performed in the supine position, while medial and lateral meniscal extrusion was additionally assessed in bipedal and single-leg conditions using a standardized protocol. Intra- and inter-reproducibility were evaluated through the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), agreement analysis and kappa statistics. The analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel (version 2019)\u00a0and IBM SPSS version 26 software. Results: Both inter-reliability and intra-reliability were evaluated, with intra-rater agreement being constantly higher than inter-rater agreement. From the inter-rater reliability, ICC values ranged from 0.48 to 0.88 for quantitative ultrasound measurements, whereas osteophyte assessment showed Cohen\u2019s k values ranging from 0.71 to 0.86, indicating substantial to almost perfect agreement. Both evaluators identified a higher number of knees with medial meniscal extrusion &gt; 3 mm under weight-bearing conditions than in the supine position. Conclusions: Standardized US evaluation demonstrated at least good reproducibility for structural abnormalities in KOA. Medial and lateral meniscal displacement increased under loading conditions, highlighting the added value of dynamic weight-bearing assessment. However, the clinical significance of load-dependent meniscal extrusion requires further investigation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina62071292","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]],"date-time":"2026-07-06T08:05:38Z","timestamp":1783325138000},"page":"1292","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Musculoskeletal\u00a0Ultrasound Reliability in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Study of Cartilage Thickness, Osteophytes and Weight-Bearing Meniscal Extrusion"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"62","author":[{"given":"Mihaela","family":"Minea","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Doctoral School, \u201cOvidius\u201d University of Constanta, 1 University Alley, Campus-Corp B, 900470 Constan\u021ba, Romania"},{"name":"Hospital Rehabilitation Unit, Balneal Sanatorium of Techirghiol, Victor Climescu Street 34\u201340, 906100 Constan\u021ba, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6028-8200","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreea-Alexandra","family":"Lupu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital Rehabilitation Unit, Balneal Sanatorium of Techirghiol, Victor Climescu Street 34\u201340, 906100 Constan\u021ba, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, \u201cOvidius\u201d University of Constan\u021ba, 1 University Alley, Campus-Corp B, 900470 Constan\u021ba, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ghiulcin","family":"Nurla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital Rehabilitation Unit, Balneal Sanatorium of Techirghiol, Victor Climescu Street 34\u201340, 906100 Constan\u021ba, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexandra-Elena","family":"Minea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 37 Dionisie Lupu Street, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0595-4818","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liliana","family":"Vl\u0103d\u0103reanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital Rehabilitation Unit, Balneal Sanatorium of Techirghiol, Victor Climescu Street 34\u201340, 906100 Constan\u021ba, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, \u201cOvidius\u201d University of Constan\u021ba, 1 University Alley, Campus-Corp B, 900470 Constan\u021ba, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6402-6443","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Viorela-Mihaela","family":"Ciortea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy \u201c Iuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d, Victor Babe\u0219 Street 8, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5416-1553","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laszlo","family":"Irsay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy \u201c Iuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d, Victor Babe\u0219 Street 8, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8573-3160","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M\u0103d\u0103lina-Gabriela","family":"Iliescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Doctoral School, \u201cOvidius\u201d University of Constanta, 1 University Alley, Campus-Corp B, 900470 Constan\u021ba, Romania"},{"name":"Hospital Rehabilitation Unit, Balneal Sanatorium of Techirghiol, Victor Climescu Street 34\u201340, 906100 Constan\u021ba, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, \u201cOvidius\u201d University of Constan\u021ba, 1 University Alley, Campus-Corp B, 900470 Constan\u021ba, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mcna.2019.10.007","article-title":"Osteoarthritis: Pathology, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options","volume":"104","author":"Abramoff","year":"2020","journal-title":"Med. 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