Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire may actually be fortunate to have suffered a ruptured popliteal cyst this week, though it will keep him out of action for at least two to three weeks.

What’s more worrisome than this new wrinkle is whether any of the knee diagnoses Stoudemire has dealt with in the past are more of an issue than the Knicks are aware of — or are letting on. In addition, there is the bone contusion (bruise) Stoudemire reportedly sustained on Oct. 10.

With the burst cyst, Stoudemire will get some needed rest to allow the contusion to heal, and the medical team will undoubtedly be working to figure out the bigger picture. It is this more complete understanding that will determine how quickly Stoudemire returns to action and how robust his knee will be.

That’s the Knicks’ $100 million question.

What is a popliteal cyst?

Also known as a Baker’s cyst, a popliteal cyst is a collection of joint fluid that escapes into the back of the knee through a bursa or a rupture of the synovial membrane that surrounds the joint. Baker’s cysts are usually located at or below the joint line and are generally visible and palpable in the region of the crease at the back of the knee, which is known as the popliteal fossa.

What leads to the cyst forming?

In adults, popliteal cysts are generally associated with other pathologies within the joint. As a result, procedures to simply aspirate (drain) or remove these cysts have poor long-term outcomes due to recurrence.

The most common underlying issues include meniscal (fibrocartilage) tears and chondral lesions. The former are generally in the posterior horn (rear portion) of the medial (inner) meniscus. Chondral lesions refer to a loss of the articular cartilage also known as hyaline cartilage that lines the ends of most bones where they form joints. Stoudemire has a history of chondral problems in his left knee, and it was for this reason that he underwent the dreaded microfracture surgery in 2005. Though he returned to form the following season, most knees with a history of articular (joint) cartilage damage have a shelf-life. Is Stoudemire’s knee reaching its competitive expiration date? It didn’t seem so when the preseason got underway.

What happens when a popliteal cyst bursts?

When a popliteal cyst bursts, the fluid moves downward into the calf. This may create some short-term swelling, bruising and discomfort in the area. There is no cause for alarm, though symptoms mimic those of a blood clot.

The fact that Stoudemire’s cyst burst likely alleviated his popliteal pain and swelling and will both buy him time and help him avoid arthroscopic procedures that might have been considered to address the cyst itself.

However, if there was an underlying cause, what was it?

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What’s your level of concern regarding Amar’e's knee? Be heard in the comments below…

1. I am in a situation where I can “borrow” money from my dad to have a new A/C system put into my house, so it doesn’t rain in my downstairs neighbor’s closet. The new system will be energy-efficient and in the long run will save me money and keep me cold.

2. I have a job. It makes me crazy and there are many parts of my job that I do not enjoy, but there are many parts that bring me pride and joy.  I get to work with some amazing people. Even if some of them are crazy, they still amaze me. I am stressed out from my job, but at least I have a job to be stressed about.

3.  My Baker’s Cyst is fully engorged and it’s so uncomfortable. All the stress and rain and standing around in safety shoes and running around on hard HARD hard floors have upset Oprah. But I am thankful that I have two legs that I can walk around on. I know I have a Baker’s Cyst because I have insurance and was able to have it diagnosed and I don’t have to worry that I have an alien/giant worm/cancerous tumor growing behind my knee.

4. My cat has something making all his hair fall out in clumps of scabby disgustingness.  I think it’s ringworm. After spending $700+ at the vet, we think it’s ringworm. I have to give him an antihistamine and ear drops every 12 hours, clean his ears out with medicated wash every two days (this made him pee on the table at the vet’s), and antibiotics once daily for 22 days.  I’m thankful that Woobeecat is sweet and trusting and allows me to shove pills down his throat and that I live in a place in the world where pet care is taken seriously and his problems are addressed.

5. I keep waking up with back pain.  It goes away for a day, then it come back, like a lightening bolt up my spine. I don’t know if it’s my mattress or how I’m sleeping or what. But I have a roof over my head and a soft mattress to sleep on. I live in a country where I don’t have to worry about bombs going off in the middle of the night or men with guns storming into my house and murdering me.

6. I totally have a cold. At least it’s not the bubonic plague.

Trying to stay positive.

Woobeecat and the fungus.

Just found a great explanation on the cause of these cysts:

The cartilage and tendons in your knee rely on a lubricating fluid called synovial (si-NO-vee-ul) fluid. This fluid helps your leg swing smoothly and reduces friction between the moving parts of your knee.

Synovial fluid circulates throughout your knee and passes in and out of various tissue pouches (bursae) throughout your knee. A valve-like system exists between your knee joint and the bursa on the back of your knee (popliteal bursa). This regulates the amount of synovial fluid going in and out of the bursa.

But sometimes the knee produces too much synovial fluid, resulting in buildup of fluid in the bursa and what is called a Baker’s cyst.

Mine is caused by arthritis in my knee or the Chondromalacia patellae.

My cyst is a big cyst. I shall name her Oprah. She is a powerful mogul.

I gotta get in a blog post for NaBloPoMo/NaBloWriMo before things get too crazy, so you’ll just have to suffer with my latest leg/knee report. 

Well, so I got this super-duper awesome sports quality brace to help me get around more, while still protecting my knee.  But maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.  My leg started really hurting in new ways last night.  Starting behind my knee.  There’s been a pocket of fluid there already.  But it began feeling like a pressurized knot and started moving further down the back of my leg deep into my calf.  It kept me up all night.  Not like the joint pain in the knee which kills me mostly when I move.  This pain continues to grow while I’m being still, and it feels like my leg is about to explode like “Alien” or something.  Totally different pain and it’s not a Charlie horse. 

Started to scare me a bit.  I had to go in last year for ultrasounds because they were worried about deep vein thrombosis.  They didn’t find any, only superficial varicose veins.  But they didn’t ultrasound behind my knee, which is where I hurt the most even then.  But I’ve never hurt anything like this before.  So I can’t help but worry that I’ve really done something.  And wrapping my leg/knee, or using the brace or the knee immobilizer only makes it worse.  And it doesn’t help that a friend of mine died unexpectedly (way too young) from a DVT last year.

I called my ortho’s office and talked to his nurse.   Didn’t mention anything about my fears.  Just wanted him to listen to the symptoms and tell me whatever.  Well, they want me to come this afternoon and check it out.  Said he didn’t want to scare me, but that what I told him made it obvious they should check it out.  So I head over in about another hour.

However, I got to searching on the internet and found something very interesting.  Apparently when a Popliteal Cyst bursts, it has all the same symptoms of a deep vein thrombosis.  A Popliteal Cyst is basically a pocket of fluid behind the knee, which I think is safe to say I definitely have that.  Even after bursting, it can reform.  Anyway, it all made total sense and reassured me a bit after reading this article about it:

http://www.eorthopod.com/public/patient_education/6521/popliteal_cysts.html

Still, I’m dying. Not only does my knee-joint hurt, but my entire leg is on fire and pressurized like it’s about to explode. Seriously, I feel it’s going to tear itself apart from the inside out. 

So we’ll see what the doc has to say.