Prevalence of naturally occurring cartilage defects in the ovine knee

Objective: To determine the prevalence, anatomical location and severity of cartilage defects in the stifle (knee) within a population of adult ewes (N=65). Materials and methods: Articular cartilage (AC) of the distal femur, proximal tibia and patella was assessed using Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) recommendations for macroscopic and microscopic scoring of ovine cartilage. Synovial fluid analysis and histology of the synovial membrane were performed. All limbs were examined by computed tomography. Results: Twenty-eight sheep (n=28; 43%) presented at least one score 2 or score 3 lesion. Twenty-two (n=22; 34%) sheep were macroscopically normal. Most frequent localizations of lesions were: axial aspect of the central third of the medial tibial condyle (32.7% of the lesions), middle third of the medial femoral condyle (29.4%), middle third of the articular surface of the patella (9.8%), and axial aspect of the central third of the lateral tibial condyle (9.8%). Grade of macroscopic lesions was significantly (H (3)=29.31, P 0.000) affected by age. Macroscopic score correlated well with histological changes that can be found in osteoarthritis (OA) (r 0.83; P 0.000). Neither clinical signs of OA, nor cytological and histological signs of inflammation were identified, while imaging abnormalities were very rare. Conclusions: Our data seem to indicate that naturally occurring OA exists in ageing sheep, at least subclinically. It might be useful to take into account prevalent cartilage defects at baseline in studies using ovine models.