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Cited by 21Knee injuries and reconstruction techniquesOsteoarthritis Treatment and MechanismsTendon Structure and Treatment

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) morphological analysis of knee cartilage in healthy and anterior cruciate ligament‐injured knees

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Li, Hong, Hosseini, Ali, Li, Jing‐Sheng, Gill, Thomas J., Li, Guoan·2012·Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy
DOI 10.1007/s00167-011-1723-6PMC PMC3740362
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Abstract

Purpose: To analyze the morphological change in the cartilage of the knee after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury by comparing with that of the intact contralateral knee. Methods: A total of 22 participants (12 male and 10 female patients) who had unilateral ACL injury underwent MRI scan of both the injured and intact contralateral knees. Sagittal plane images were segmented using a modeling software to determine cartilage volume and cartilage thickness in each part of the knee cartilage that were compared between the ACL‐injured and the intact contralateral knees. Furthermore, the male and female patients’ data were analyzed in subgroups. Results: The ACL‐injured knees had statistically significant lower total knee cartilage volume than the intact contralateral knees (P = 0.0020), but had similar mean thickness of total knee cartilage (not significant: n.s.). In the male subgroup, there was no significant difference in cartilage volume and thickness between normal and ACL‐injured knees. In the female subgroup, the ACL‐injured knees demonstrated statistically significant difference in total knee cartilage volume (P = 0.0004) and thickness (P = 0.0024) compared with the normal knees. The percentage change in the cartilage thickness in women was significantly greater than that in men. Conclusion: Cartilage volume was significantly smaller in the ACL‐injured knees than in the contralateral intact knees in this cohort. Women tended to display greater cartilage volume and thickness change after ACL injury than men. These findings indicated that women might be more susceptible to cartilage alteration after ACL injuries. Level of evidence: III.

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  • In large cohorts of non-arthritic knees undergoing MRI, cartilage thickness has been reported to be in the 1.5-2.0 mm range.

    “In large cohorts of non-arthritic knees undergoing MRI, cartilage thickness has been reported to be in the 1.5–2.0 mm range [36, 37].”

    From Imageless robotic total knee arthroplasty determines similar coronal plane alignment of the knee (CPAK) parameters to long leg radiographs (2024) · cites this paper as [37]

    The Results (page unavailable) report mean total knee cartilage thickness of 1.9–2.0 mm in the intact control and ACL-injured knees, broadly consistent with the cited range. But the Materials and methods describe only 22 participants, and the Discussion explicitly calls the sample small; this paper does not support the claim that its measurements came from a large cohort. (LLM, conf=0.89)

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Research works printed but not linked: 28

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Sorted by citations

Authors
Li, H., Hosseini, A., Li, J., Gill, T. J., & Li, G.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Li, Guoan
ORCID
Venue
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2011-10-29
Volume
20
Issue
8
Pages
1496-1502
ISSN
  • 0942-2056 (ISSN-L)
  • 1433-7347
DOI
10.1007/s00167-011-1723-6
PMC
PMC3740362
OpenAlex
W2063826328
Cited by
21
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2018: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2
FWCI
1.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Knee Surgery Sports Traumatology Arthroscopy (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (R01 AR055612)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Knee injuries and reconstruction techniques
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Osteoarthritis Treatment and Mechanisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Tendon Structure and Treatment
Keywords
anterior cruciate ligament injury, knee cartilage, cartilage volume, cartilage thickness, sex differences, contralateral knee comparison, MRI segmentation
MeSH terms
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries, Cartilage, Articular, Female, Humans, Knee Injuries, Knee Joint, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Anterior Cruciate Ligament

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