The Role of Diffusion-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Evaluation of Anterior Cruciate and Posterior Cruciate Ligament Tears

Abstract

Objective: The objective of our study was to determine the role of diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosing and differentiating between complete and partial anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) tears and to compare it with conventional MRI sequences. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective study for a period of 2 years from October 2017 to October 2019 on 30 patients with clinically suspected ACL/PCL injuries of the knee. MRI of the knee joint was performed using conventional, and DW sequences and the findings on both the sequences were assessed independently and compared with the intraoperative or follow-up MRI findings. Results: As per operative and follow-up MRI findings, the sensitivity and specificity of conventional MRI were 60% and 33.33% with a positive and negative predictive value of 47.37% and 45.45%, respectively. On the other hand, the sensitivity and specificity of DW MRI were 70.00% and 33.33% with a positive and negative predictive value of 51.22% and 52.13%, respectively. P = 0.417 was statistically not significant. Conclusion: According to our study, adding DW sequence to conventional MR sequences yielded comparable results in diagnosis and differentiation between complete and partial ACL and PCL tears.