Osteoarthritis and osteoarthrosis (OA)
Introduction
The two terms are often used interchangeably, and this may seem quite confusing as osteoarthritis means inflammatory disease (-itis), while osteoarthrosis means degenerative disease (-osis).
In the past, the term osteoarthritis was considered to be a misnomer, as the disease was considered to be of purely degenerative purpose.
Today, however, the disease is known to be not simply a process of degeneration, but rather involves complex mechanisms including abnormal remodeling of joint tissues along with inflammation.
Description
OA is the most common form of arthritis. It is a slow and progressive disease characterized by damage to articular cartilage and subchondral bone, formation of osteophytes, and other joint changes.
- Symptoms include pain associated with movement, short morning stiffness, and sometimes swelling of the joints.
- Most commonly affects the weight bearing joints (knee, hip), but can also affect the joints of the hand and spine.
- The pattern is asymmetrical.
- Can affect both PIP and DIP joints of the hand (compared with RA where DIP joints are spared), leading to Heberden and Bouchard nodes.
- Contributing factors include age (older), obesity, sex (females) and lifestyle.
- Etiology. OA can be primary (idiopathic) or secondary.
- Primary OA can be sub-divided into primary generalized OA (if several joints