Rapid Destructive Arthropathy of the Knee in Parkinson’s Disease with Pisa Syndrome: A Case of Knee-Spine Syndrome

Case Reports

. 2021 Sep 3;2021:6622445.


doi: 10.1155/2021/6622445.


eCollection 2021.

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Free PMC article

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Case Reports

Hirokazu Takai et al.


Case Rep Orthop.


.

Free PMC article

Abstract

The changes occurring in knee osteoarthritis often cause alterations in the spinal loading condition, which further lead to degenerative changes. This close relationship of the knee and spine has been reported as knee-spine syndrome. A 60-year-old woman with Parkinson’s disease (PD; Hoehn-Yahr stage IV) had severe knee pain with moderate lateral osteoarthritis of the knee (Kellgren-Lawrence classification grade II). Conservative therapy had no effect at all, and the knee developed destructive osteoarthritis rapidly without any traumatic episodes. The radiographic findings progressed to Kellgren-Lawrence grade IV within a month. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed partial depression of the joint surface, including shredded ossicles and substantial amounts of synovial fluid. The imaging findings were considered to be caused by a subchondral insufficiency fracture (SIF). Total knee arthroplasty was performed using a semiconstrained prosthesis. The alignment of her lower extremity improved, and the patient could walk without knee pain. The patient had Pisa syndrome, a lateral flexion of the trunk, which is a postural deformity of the trunk secondary to long-standing PD. The postural deformity in PD is not based on spinal deformity itself but on the loss of postural reflexes and the imbalance of muscle tonus. Her left knee pain appeared 1 month after L1-L4 posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) as the Pisa syndrome to her left side worsened. The more the trunk tilts to the lateral side, the center of the gravity axis will shift and pass through more lateral points of the knee and result in higher knee load. The stress concentration from the spine to the lateral joint of the knee caused lateral knee osteoarthritis, namely, knee-spine syndrome. When patients undergo correction surgery for adult spinal disorder with impairment of postural reflexes, they need to be followed up carefully regarding not only the spinal alignment but also the lower extremities.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that have influenced the work reported in this paper.

Figures


Figure 1



Figure 1

The picture of the PD patient standing on and off. The picture shows the appearance of the patient with PD. She managed to remain standing and walk leaning the body to her left side. The postural deformities—Pisa syndrome and bent posture—became noticeable when PD was off.


Figure 2



Figure 2

Radiographs of total spinal alignment. (a) Preoperative radiograph revealing lumbar spinal alignment in a supine position. (b) Postoperative radiograph of L1-L4 PLIF revealing lumbar spinal alignment in a supine position. (c) Radiograph showing total spinal alignment in a standing position. Pisa syndrome: the leaning of the body exacerbated when walking or standing but improved in the supine position.


Figure 3



Figure 3

Preoperative radiographs of the left knee. (a) Radiograph at the first visit to our hospital shows Kellgren-Lawrence grade II and mild osteoarthritis of the lateral joint surface. (b) Radiograph at 1 month later shows Kellgren-Lawrence classification grade IV and severe valgus osteoarthritis.


Figure 4



Figure 4

MRI of the left knee. Magnetic resonance image revealing partial depression of the joint surface including shredded ossicles and substantial amounts of synovial fluid. The findings were similar to those of osteomyelitis.


Figure 5



Figure 5

TKA. (a) Intraoperative photograph showing that the cartilage of the lateral joint surface of her left knee was scooped out and eburnated partially. (b) Postoperative radiographs of left TKA using a semiconstrained prosthesis.


Figure 6



Figure 6

Total alignment of the lower extremity while standing. (a) Radiograph revealing preoperative total alignment of the lower extremity in a standing position. (b) Radiograph revealing postoperative total alignment of the lower extremity in a standing position.

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