Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jun 15;1(3):e017.
doi: 10.5435/JAAOSGlobal-D-17-00017. eCollection 2017 Jun.

Radiographic Patterns of Radiocarpal and Midcarpal Arthritis

Affiliations

Radiographic Patterns of Radiocarpal and Midcarpal Arthritis

Andrew Miller et al. J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev. .

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the specific locations of radiocarpal and/or midcarpal joint osteoarthritis (RC/MC OA).

Methods: A total of 1,007 wrist radiographs were screened for the presence of RC/MC OA. The locations of the degenerative changes were identified. In addition, the observers then determined whether the observed patterns fell under the scapholunate advanced collapse (SLAC) pattern.

Results: The SLAC pattern did not represent the majority of observed degenerative changes. Almost one-third of the patients had degenerative changes present at the radiolunate or scaphocapitate articulations in the absence of radioscaphoid changes. Women have a lower risk of arthritis compared with men (odds ratio, 0.306; P < 0.05). Increasing age correlated with the presence of arthritis (odds ratio, 1.05; P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Contrary to the previous reports in the literature, our cohort demonstrated that <50% of wrist OA fell into the category of SLAC arthritis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Institutional Review Board Approval was obtained for this study. Dr. Lutsky or an immediate family member serves as a board member, owner, officer, or committee member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Dr. Wolfe or an immediate family member serves as a paid consultant to Conventus; has received research or institutional support from Conventus Orthopaedics; serves as a paid consultant to and has received royalties from Extremity Medical; and serves as a paid consultant to and is a member of a speakers' bureau or has made paid presentations on behalf of Trimed. Dr. Beredjiklian or an immediate family member has stock or stock options held in Dimension Orthotics LLC, Matador, Inc., and Wright Medical Technology, Inc. None of the following authors or any immediate family member has received anything of value from or has stock or stock options held in a commercial company or institution related directly or indirectly to the subject of this chapter: Dr. Miller, Dr. Shearin, and Dr. Cantlon.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Zones of the radiocarpal and midcarpal joints. (1) Radial styloid, (2) radioscaphoid, (3) radiolunate, (4) scaphocapitate, (5) capitolunate, (6) triquetral-hamate, and (7) triquetral–lunate.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percent involvement of radiocarpal and midcarpal zones.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Radiographs of a wrist with isolated zone 3 osteoarthritis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Radiographs of a wrist with zone 4 and 5 osteoarthritis.

References

    1. References printed in bold type are those published within the past 5 years.

    1. Watson HK, Ballet FL: The SLAC wrist: Scapholunate advanced collapse pattern of degenerative arthritis. J Hand Surg Am 1984;9:358-365. - PubMed
    1. Weiss KE, Rodner CM: Osteoarthritis of the wrist. J Hand Surg Am 2007;32:725-746. - PubMed
    1. Scordino LE, Bernstein J, Nakashian M, et al. : Radiographic prevalence of scaphotrapeziotrapezoid osteoarthrosis. J Hand Surg Am 2014;39:1677-1682. - PubMed
    1. Kuo CE, Wolfe SW: Scapholunate instability: Current concepts in diagnosis and management. J Hand Surg Am 2008;33:998-1013. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources