Roemer FW, et al. - Every right knee with longitudinal MRI data of the refined Osteoarthritis Initiative Healthy Reference cohort were examined by experts in order to assess for knee osteoarthritis (OA) whether baseline MRI-defined structural abnormalities were connected with subsequent change in laminar femorotibial cartilage transverse relaxation time (T2) of individuals without radiographic signs, symptoms or risk factors. By an expert reader, baseline osteophytes, effusion-synovitis, Hoffa-synovitis, bone marrow lesions, cartilage lesions, and meniscus morphology and - extrusion were graded semiquantitatively from MR images. A total of 82 subjects were recruited in the study. In medial femorotibial compartment (MFTC) or lateral femorotibial compartment cartilage T2, the number of baseline MRI pathologies was not significantly correlated with longitudinal variation over 1 or 4 years. In superficial MFTC cartilage T2, presence of baseline MFTC osteophytes may be related to prolongation over one and four years, and that MFTC meniscal damage or extrusion may be linked to prolongation in deep layer T2 times over the first year. Hence, proof that in knees without radiographic OA, baseline structural MRI abnormalities were firmly associated with compositional progression during normal aging and/or the potentially earliest phases of the disease as measured by cartilage T2 could not be ascertained.