No significant histological or ultrastructural tendinosis changes in the hamsting tendon in patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee?

Abstract

Purpose To investigate the periarticular degenerative changes of the knee joint in association with osteoarthritis (OA). More tendinosis was expected to be found in the semitendinosus tendon in patients with knee OA than in patients without knee OA.<p> Methods Samples from 41 patients were included between January 2016 and October 2017. Twenty-one patients median age 53 (33–63) years with mild to moderate OA underwent high tibial osteotomy (HTO) and 20 patients median age 38 (31–57) years without OA underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Biopsies from the semitendinosus tendon were obtained at the time of surgery and examined histologically, morphologically and ultrastructurally using light and electron microscope.<p> Results The histological evaluation of the semitendinosus tendon revealed the presence of more hemosiderin in the ACLR group. No signifcant morphological or ultrastructural diferences were shown between patients in the HTO and ACLR group.<p> Conclusion Patients with mild and moderate medial compartment knee OA displayed no more degenerative changes in their semitendinosus tendon than patients without OA, as seen in both the light and the electron microscope.