Relationship of fat and lean tissue in the thigh with measures of mobility in women with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between lean muscle volume of the thigh, calculated from MRI, and clinical mobility outcomes after accounting for thigh fatty tissue volume in women with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Secondarily, we aimed to quantify the relationship between lean muscle volume and peak knee extensor moment during gait. Our significant models were driven primarily by fat volume, not lean tissue volume, suggesting a mechanistic role of BMI and local fatty tissue volume in limiting mobility among women with knee OA.