KNEE ARTHRITIS - General principles of managing Osteoarthritis of the knee :
Can someone tell me...... - - Posted by dawnb1968 (dawnb1968), 31 January 2004
What is an osteochondral defect ?
I have a focal osteochondral defect in the lateral femoral condyle. I have found lots of info about chondral defects and what can be done to repair them but nothing really on osteochondral defects. Is it something to be concerned about ?
Thanks !
Dawn
Posted by dm (dm), 1 February 2004
Try this link, its from a medical textbook available online.
Hope it helps.
http://wheeless.orthoweb.be/oo1/54.htm
Posted by hmaxwell (Heather M.), 4 February 2004
Osteochondral defects are ones that go through the articular cartilage (chondral layer) and down into the bone. Essentially, a focal osteochondral defect is a small, solitary arthritic lesion. So yes, it is worse than a chondral lesion because it goes deeper into the underlying bone. Do you know what grade it is? It's my understanding that the grading system is the same as for chondromalacia--i.e. Grade I to Grade IV. I have grade II osteochondral lesions on the back of my kneecap, and this is more commonly known as arthritis.
But be sure that the person who wrote the report is using the same terminology: usually, if they know what they are talking about they will differentiate between chondral and osteochondral lesions. My doctor told me that sometimes people get sloppy and use the two terms interchangeably, and they are not meant to be.
Hope this helps. A web page with good, simply information on this is www.steadman-hawkins.com Go to the upper right and click on information for patients, then select the chondral injuries or chondral defects link.
Heather
Updated Thu Apr 29 2010
