Knee morphology and risk factors for developing an anterior cruciate ligament rupture: an MRI comparison between ACL-ruptured and non-injured knees.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate multiple morphological features on MR images in patients with and without ACL rupture to evaluate whether there are certain variables that confer a higher risk for an ACL rupture. MRI measurements were taken from 45 subjects with ACL injury and 43 subjects without ACL injury, by two independent observers. The morphometrics were compared between ACL-injured and non-injured subjects, between men and women and for male and female subjects separately. A factor analysis was performed to determine whether any variables were related in the injured, non-injured, male or female groups. There were no significant differences in the overall population between the ACL-injured and non-injured group. Significant differences were found in bicondylar (P ≤ 0.001), medial condyle (P ≤ 0.001) and lateral condyle widths (P = 0.001) between men and women. In the male group, there were no significant differences between ACL-injured and non-injured subjects. In the female group, there was a significant difference in bicondylar (P = 0.002) and lateral condyle width (P = 0.002) between ACL-injured and non-injured subjects. There were gender-related differences in bony morphology between ACL-injured and non-injured subjects. The morphological features that were different between ACL-injured and non-injured subjects varied between male and female subjects. Case-Control study, Level III.