Varus knee thrust is an abnormal frontal-plane movement (i.e., an out-bowing) of the knee that occurs during the weight-acceptance phase of gait. Varus thrust is of clinical interest, as it is a potentially-modifiable biomechanical risk factor for knee osteoarthritis (OA) progression and has been associated with knee pain. The overall aim of this dissertation is to identify the structural and symptomatic consequences of varus thrust at the knee and along the lower limb, and the possible anatomical and sensorimotor causes of varus thrust in older adults with or at risk for OA. Varus thrust was assessed in Multicenter Osteoarthritis (MOST) Study participants using high-speed videos of self-paced walking. Varus thrust was observed in 31.3% of 3730 knees. We investigated the longitudinal relation of varus thrust to MRI lesions and found that thrust was associated with increased odds of incident and worsening bone marrow lesions and worsening cartilage loss. We then investigated the longitudinal association of varus thrust with WOMAC knee pain and found that thrust was associated with increased odds of incident and worsening total WOMAC knee pain and worsening pain during weight-bearing and non-weight bearing activities. In an ancillary quantitative gait analysis of a single subject with unilateral varus thrust, we found altered joint moments at the hip, knee, and ankle in the thrust limb compared to the non-thrust limb. We bolstered this pilot data with an investigation of low back and lower extremity pain in the presence of thrust in MOST participants: limbs with thrust had increased odds of incident frequent pain proximal (hip or low back) and distal (ankle and foot) to the knee compared to limbs without thrust. Finally, we investigated the cross-sectional relation of anatomical and sensorimotor impairments at the knee and lower extremity to the prevalence of varus thrust. Thrust was most prevalent in limbs with static varus malalignment and supinated feet during gait, while increasing static knee laxity had a protective effect against thrust. These results fill substantial gaps in the narrative regarding the role of varus thrust in OA development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/29956 |
| Date | 12 June 2018 |
| Creators | Wink, Alexandra Elisabeth |
| Contributors | Felson, David T, Gross, Kevin D |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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