USING THE COLOR MAPPING OF CARTILAGE TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF OSTEOARTHRITIS TREATMENT
The authors carried out evaluation of the effect of different groups of drugs on the clinical course of early osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee and biochemical status of cartilage tissue using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with color T2 mapping. The study enrolled 60 patients with knee OA. All patients were randomized into three groups matched for sex, age, and disease duration: Group 1 (n=20) received oral etoricoxib 60-90 mg daily, Group 2 (n=22) - oral chondroitin sulfate 1000 mg and glucosamine sulfate 1500 mg daily, Group 3 (n=21) - intraarticular injections of 2 ml of 1.5% hyaluronic acid three times every 7 days. It is found that using the color T2 mapping of cartilage allows the recognition of OA in the earliest stages, and helps to control the influence of drugs on the disease course, before the appearance of knee x-ray changes. The use of the drug combination chondroitin sulfate/glucosamine sulfate gives one the ability to provide long-lasting symptomatic effect and a structure-modifying effect.