Baseline Knee Chondrocalcinosis Predicts Incident Radiographic Osteoarthritis

Baseline chondrocalcinosis (CC) was significantly associated with incident radiographic osteoarthritis but it was not consistently associated with incident knee pain across 2 large cohorts.

A prospective cohort analysis evaluated the association between baseline radiographic knee CC and 2 primary outcomes: incident radiographic knee OA and incident knee pain in participants initially free of or with minimal borderline OA (Kellgren and Lawrence grade [KLG] 0 or 1). Data were drawn from 2 large cohorts: the Rotterdam Study (n = 3737; 20 years of follow-up) and the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST; n = 2750; 7 years of follow-up). The analysis assessed outcomes in the combined cohort and specifically in the subgroup restricted to participants with KLG = 0 at baseline.

Among OA-free participants at baseline. chondrocalcinosis was present in 5%. It was significantly associated with incident knee osteoarthritis in both cohorts (pooled odds ratio [OR]: 1.75, 95% CI: 1.35-2.27, P < .001), with significance maintained in KLG = 0 participants (pooled OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.04-3.01, P = .035). No consistent association with incident knee pain was observed.

Radiographic knee chondrocalcinosis at baseline appears to be a significant risk factor for developing radiographic knee osteoarthritis over long-term follow-up, even in knees without radiographic OA initially. However, CC does not appear to be a consistent predictor of subsequent knee pain.

Reference:

Wu Y,  Liew JW,  Boer JD, et al. Chondrocalcinosis and incident knee osteoarthritis: findings from 2 large prospective cohorts with 20 years of follow-up. Ann Rheum Dis. Published online August 5, 2025. doi:10.1016/j.arth.2025.01.042