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Prevalence of Osteoarthrosis of the Trapeziometacarpal Joint

¹ Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery, Crystal Run Healthcare, 155 Crystal Run Road, Middletown, NY 10941
² Hand and Upper Extremity Service, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Yawkey Center, Suite 2100, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114. E-mail address for D. Ring: dring{at}partners.org
³ Department of Biostatistics, Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115

Investigation performed at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

In support of their research or preparation of this manuscript, one or more of the authors received grants or outside funding from the AO Foundation. None of the authors received payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, educational institution, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors are affiliated or associated.

Methods: The radiographs of 615 consecutive patients who had presented with an isolated fracture of the distal part of the radius over a two-year period were evaluated for evidence of trapeziometacarpal arthrosis. We used a simple three-grade rating system suitable for standard wrist radiographs. Grade I indicated no or nearly no arthrosis; grade II, obvious arthrosis; and grade III, a totally destroyed joint. This rating system was demonstrated to have adequate intraobserver reliability (average kappa of 0.72, p < 0.001) and interobserver reliability (average kappa of 0.56, p < 0.001). The number of patients with each grade of arthrosis was analyzed according to age and gender.

Results: The overall radiographic prevalence of trapeziometacarpal arthrosis in patients with a distal radial fracture increased steadily from the age of forty-one years onward and reached a prevalence of 91% in patients older than eighty years of age. The prevalence increased more rapidly in women than in men; it reached 94% in women who were older than eighty years of age compared with 85% in men who were older than eighty years of age. The prevalence of grade-III trapeziometacarpal arthrosis (a totally destroyed joint) was much greater in women than in men at all age levels; it reached a prevalence of 66% in women older than eighty years of age compared with 23% in men older than eighty years of age.

Conclusions: The radiographic prevalence of trapeziometacarpal arthrosis in patients presenting for treatment of a distal radial fracture is age-related, and trapeziometacarpal arthrosis is more likely to lead to complete joint destruction in women than it is in men.

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