Clinico-radiological correlation in the diagnosis of ligament and meniscus injuries at knee joint: A prospective study

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the MRI appearances and various patterns of ligament and meniscus tears in knee joint injuries and to correlate the clinical findings with MRI findings. Materials and Methods: Our study included 50 patients, who were referred to radiology department for MRI of knee joint following injury. Prior to MRI, a detailed clinical and local examination was done in all the subjects. MRI was carried out on MAGNETOM Avanto 18 Channel 1.5 Tesla Machine by Siemens India Ltd and the standard protocol consisted of PD(TE 45 TR 2800), T2W(TE 73 TR 5090), fat suppressed T2W(TE 26 TR 5000) spin echo sequences in axial, sagittal and coronal planes. The MRI findings were compared with arthroscopic findings in 30 subjects and in rest of the subjects characteristic MRI features were considered diagnostic. Results: Diagnostic accuracy of clinical examination (83%) was relatively low as compared to MR examination (88%) in our study. The percentage correlation between clinical and MRI findings regarding presence or absence of ligament/meniscus tear was highest in case of PCL tears (94%). Amongst ligament injuries, complete tear of ACL alone was the most common injury (53%) and ACL injury was most commonly associated with MM injury (16%), intrasubstance tears were more common than attachment site tears. Conclusions: MR is unique in its ability to evaluate the architecture as well as the surface of ligaments and menisci. MRI is more sensitive than clinical examination in diagnosing ligament and meniscus injuries.