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Correlation between Vascular Endothelial Cell Growth Factor (VEGF) and Muscular Ultrasonography Finding in Knee Osteoarthritis

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disorder affecting articular cartilage that may be associated with synovial inflammation. The vascular endothelial growth factor is implicated in the pathogenesis of OA. This study aimed to assess man serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and to evaluate their correlation with clinical manifestations, physical function and musculoskeletal-ultrasonography findings. Results: This is a case control study conducted on 50 subjects, thirty patients with primary Knee OA recruited from the outpatients’ clinic of the Rheumatology, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine Department Benha University Hospitals, from November 2018 to November 2019. Twenty age and sex matched apparently healthy adult individuals were also included as a control group. The present study showed a highly statically significant difference (p < 0.0001) between the mean serum levels of VEGF in the patients’ and the control groups being higher in the patients group compared to the control group (<0.001). The current study revealed a strong significant positive correlations of VEGF levels with the presence of Baker’s cysts, cartilage thickness index and color Doppler US grading (p < 0.0001). Significant positive correlations were also reported between VEGA levels (p=<0.001) and WOMAC total and WOMAC sub scores. 
Conclusions: VEGF serum levels are highly correlated with clinical, functional and musculoskeletal ultrasound severity of KOA. Thus it could be used as a potential biomarker for estimating Knee OA disease status