A Study On The Association Between Intercondylar Notch Width And Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury With 3.0T MRI

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between intercondylar notch width and anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) injury by conducting 3.0T MRI scans and to analyse the clinical importance of intercondylar notch width in diagnosing and treating intercondylar notch stenosis.Methods Fifty patients with ACL injury and fifty patients with normal ACL knee from the Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University was investigated. 3.0T MRI scans was used to measure the intercondylar notch dimensions. The T2-weighted coronal image was obtained in each patient to measure medial condyle width(M)、later condyle width(L)、L:M、bicondylar width(BCW) 、intercondylar notch width(NW) at the level of the popliteal groove in the lateral condyle of the femoral,paraller to the joint line as formed by the distal femoral condyles, and the NWI was also calculated by dividing NW by BCW. The intercondylar notch morphology between ACL-injured group and control group was compared to evaluate the effect of intercondylar notch width on anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) injury.Results 1.There were no significant differences between two groups in gender(P>0.05)and age(P>0.05).2.The NW of males was 17.926±0.71 mm and 20.216±1.58 mm in females.The BCW of males was 77.604±2.29 mm and 76.412±2.07 mm in females. The NWI of males was 0.230±0.005 and 0.264±0.014 in females.The M of males was 28.6±1.06 mm and 27.8±0.73 mm in females.The L of males was 30.1±1.43 mm and 29.1±0.90 mm in females.The L:M of males was 1.054±0.02 and 1.042±0.63 in females.There was a statistically significant differences in L、L:M、NW、NWI in males and females(P<0.05), while there was no significant differences in M、BCW in males and females(P>0.05).3.The NW of study group was 17.926±0.71 mm and 20.216±1.58 mm in control group.The BCW of study group was 77.60±2.29 mm and 76.41±2.07 mm in control group.The NWI of study group was 0.230±0.005 and 0.264±0.014 in control group.The M of study group was 29.04±0.66 and 27.51±0.58 in control group.The L of study group was 30.63±1.02 mm and 28.68±0.63 mm in control group.The L:M of study group was 1.054±0.02 and 1.042±0.63 in control group.There was a statistically significant differences in L、NW、NWI between study group and control group(P<0.05),while there was no significant differences in M、L:M、BCW between two groups(P>0.05).4.Within the ACL-injured group,there was no significant differences in NWI with respect to gender,involved side,meniscus injury complication.Conclusions The results of this study suggested that intercondylar notch width of ACL-injured group was lower,and narrow intercondylar notch dimensions appeared to be a risk factor for ACL injury. Intercondylar notch dimenions especially a lower NWI measured by 3.0T MRI played an important role on the diagnosis of intercondylar notch stenosis. Intercondylar notch dimensions can provied important imaging evidence for prevention of ACL injury and diagnosis of intercondylar notch stenosis.