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Morphological changes in the superficial medial collateral ligament on knee MR imaging: association with medial meniscal extrusion and posterior root medial meniscus abnormality

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Abstract

Objective

To assess the association between morphological changes in the superficial medial collateral ligament and meniscal extrusion with medial meniscus posterior root tear.

Materials and methods

From January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019, 124 patients who underwent knee MRI within 90 days prior to knee surgery and whose medial meniscus surgically proved intact, with posterior root tear or posterior horn tear, were enrolled. Two radiologists who were blinded to the surgical results assessed the morphological changes in the superficial medial collateral ligament, including thickness, bowing angle, and presence of signal intensity alteration, and medial meniscus extrusion, according to the presence of tears in the posterior root of the medial meniscus or posterior horn of the medial meniscus using the chi-square test, one-way ANOVA, and Cohen’s kappa test.

Results

Thirty-six posterior root tears, 31 posterior horn tears, and 57 intact medial menisci were observed surgically. The mean values of thickness showed no significant differences among the three groups. The bowing angle was significantly higher in the posterior root tear than in the posterior horn tear (reader 1 = 0.001, reader 2 = 0.002) and normal meniscus groups (readers 1 and 2 < 0.001). The percentage of superficial medial collateral ligament signal intensity alteration and meniscal extrusion was highest in the group with posterior root of the medial meniscus tear (80.6% and 94.4%, respectively) and lowest in the group with normal medial meniscus (17.5% and 10.5%, respectively).

Conclusion

Morphological changes in the superficial medial collateral ligament and meniscal extrusion were associated with medial meniscus posterior root tears.

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Abbreviations

sMCL:

Superficial medial collateral ligament

MME:

Medial meniscal extrusion

PRMM:

Posterior root of the medial meniscus

PHMM:

Posterior horn medial meniscus

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 82 Gumi-ro, 173 Beon-gil, Bundang-guGyeonggi-do, Seongnam-si, 13620, South Korea

    So Jin Yoon, Joong Mo Ahn, Yusuhn Kang, Bo Ram Kim & Heung-Sik Kang

  2. Department of Radiology, Chonnam National University Hospital, 42 Jebong-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju, 61469, South Korea

    So Jin Yoon

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  1. So Jin Yoon
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  2. Joong Mo Ahn
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  3. Yusuhn Kang
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  5. Heung-Sik Kang
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Correspondence to Joong Mo Ahn.

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Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (IRB no: B-2106/693–102). The requirement for patients’ informed consent was waived.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Yoon, S.J., Ahn, J.M., Kang, Y. et al. Morphological changes in the superficial medial collateral ligament on knee MR imaging: association with medial meniscal extrusion and posterior root medial meniscus abnormality. Skeletal Radiol 51, 1399–1405 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-021-03978-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-021-03978-3

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