Chondomalacia Knee

[deyjason]

How is this usually rated? I am at 0% for tendonitis but believe that the cartilgae is is more of an issue. I recently had an MRI and was considering filing for an increase but wasn't sure how this would be categorized; osteoarthritis, limited flexion? No clue here. This is the results from the MRI and X-Ray:

MRI- thinning of ACL distally…articular cartilage of medial and lateral joint spaces demonstrate mild heterogeneity without evidence of thinning or defect… mild heterogeneity and thinning of the medial and central aspect of the patellar cartilage with no underlying edema……Synovial space-minimal joint effusion is present……mild chondromalacia involving the medial and central portion of the patellar cartilage and early degenerative changes within the cartilage of the medial and lateral joint space.

x-ray-Mild medial compartment narrowing

Anyone have a clue or a similar issue.

[USMC5811]

I don't have a similar issue, hopefully someone who does or is more knowledgeable about the subject matter will post with their opinion though.

Knee Contentions (Joint) can be rated under several different diagnostic codes - each having their own tests. After typing in Chondromalacia of the knee (Runner's Knee) here: http://www.uscourts.cavc.gov/ and searching previous rulings concerning Chondromalacia at the US Court of Veteran Appeals it appears the following codes were usually used or considered for this contention: DC 5257 deals with stability, DC 5260/5261 deals with limitation of flexing of the leg, limited extension of the leg 5251 deals with cartlidge issues Diagnostic Codes 5002-5010 deal with various arthritis (ROM is checked here).

The schedule of rating disabilities may be found here: http://ecfr.gpoacces...0.1.1.5&idno=38

I'm not a doctor and don't possess the knowledge to decipher what your personal results are = your MRI results and X-Rays. No doubt I could probably search the internet to find out what each sentence means but...... If it was me, I would take the results to my own Primary Care Provider and ask them if they could translate the information into layman terms so that I could understand the condition of my knee.

The Disability Benefits Questionairre (which is almost if not identical to the paperwork a C&P examiner fills out) for knee contentions (to include all the diagnostic codes listed above) is located here: http://www.vba.va.go...9-ARE.pdf I included this so that you could view what will be tested in order to find out the severity of your contention and what the raters will use to determine your rating in most cases.

Semper Fi!

Edited August 30, 2012 by USMC5811