Open AccessEnthesopathy—An Underappreciated Role in Osteoarthritis?
Author(s) -
Dylan N. Greif,
Christopher P. Emerson,
Jean Jose,
Hechmi Toumi,
Thomas M. Best
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
current sports medicine reports
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.424
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1537-8918
pISSN - 1537-890X
DOI - 10.1249/jsr.0000000000000775
Subject(s) - enthesis , medicine , enthesopathy , osteoarthritis , joint capsule , disease , enthesitis , arthritis , tendon , surgery , pathology , psoriatic arthritis , alternative medicine
Osteoarthritis (OA) continues to be a debilitating disease worldwide, to date, no therapies have been definitely proven to modify disease progression or moderate symptom relief long term other than joint replacement. A contributing factor may be the lack of attention to the potential role of the periarticular enthesis and development and progression of OA. The enthesis is the site of attachment for a tendon, ligament, or joint capsule to the bony skeleton, thereby allowing centralized transmission and dissipation of mechanical loads. Because of this design, the enthesis is a site of stress concentration subject to inflammation during sports-related activities or spondyloarthropathies, which may lead to long-term degeneration. Our hypothesis is that functional incompetence of the enthesis resulting from either degenerative or inflammatory changes could be an initiating factor for OA and may thus provide a novel basis for the development of future disease management in this phenotype of patients.