Since the regional lymph nodes are the primary target for preventing the spread of local inflammation, we assumed that the changes in the size, number and fatty composition of the lymph nodes were correlated with the severity of the synovitis of the joint.
With aging, the number of popliteal lymph nodes was decreased, but the frequency of central fatty changes was increased ( 4). In a previous study, the characteristics of the MR imaging-determined popliteal lymph nodes in patients having an internal derangement of the knee were established as to their prevalence, size and the occurrence of fatty changes ( 4). The popliteal lymph nodes are not infrequently observed on routine knee MR imaging study however, they have received little attention.
Fatty changes may occur in the lymph nodes, particularly in the peripheral lymph nodes that receive little antigenic stimulation ( 3). These nodes are large in neonates and then they gradually decrease in size throughout life. It's reported in many anatomy textbooks that there are several popliteal lymph nodes ( 1, 2). The number and mean size of the lymph nodes correlated with the ISVs ( r = 0.49, p < 0.001 0.50, 0.001, respectively). When differentiating RA from OA, and when the differentiation was confined to the RA group and grade III OA group, respectively, the criteria of the number of lymph nodes, their size, their central fatty change and a combination of all these three criteria showed statistical significance (Az values for the former were 0.869, 0.847, 0.776, and 0.942 Az values for the latter were 0.855, 0.799, 0.712, and 0.916). The incidence of central fatty changes was significantly lower in the RA group than in all the OA groups and the grade III OA group. The mean size (mean ± standard deviation) of the lymph nodes was 3.8 ± 1.0 mm, 3.6 ± 1.1 mm, 4.1 ± 0.8 mm, and 5.4 ± 1.3 mm, respectively. The number (mean ± standard deviation) of lymph nodes in the grade I OA group, the grade II OA group, the grade III OA group and the RA group was 1.2 ± 0.4, 1.2 ± 0.4, 1.3 ± 0.5, and 2.7 ± 1.1, respectively. The popliteal lymph node was observed in 32 out of 73 OA cases, whereas it was visible in all of the 21 RA cases. The prevalence of the observed popliteal lymph nodes was significantly different between all the OA groups or between the grade III OA group and the RA group ( p < 0.0001, 0.0001, respectively).
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