MDCT arthrography assessment of the severity of cartilage damage and scapholunate dissociation regarding specific-component tears of the scapholunate interosseous ligament

Abstract

Purpose: Untreated post-traumatic scapholunate interosseus ligament (SLIL) injury may lead to the development of a specific pattern of progressive wrist osteoarthritis known as SLAC (scapholunate advanced collapse), one of the most frequent patterns of wrist osteoarthritis. The dorsal component of SLIL is known to be the strongest and main responsible for scapholunate stability, as demonstrated in previous cadaveric studies. No previous study has evaluated the distribution and severity of cartilage damage and scapholunate dissociation considering component-specific tears of the SLIL, using an imaging technique where we can directly assess both cartilage and SLIL morphology.