Although meniscofemoral ligaments are distinct anatomic units, their anatomy and function are controversial from an anatomic and radiologic point of view. Five hundred knee MR examinations were retrospectively studied in an effort to demonstrate the incidence and variations regarding sex and age distribution, as well as the anatomy of the meniscofemoral ligament at magnetic resonance imaging. Patients were mostly men, three hundred and twelve, in contrast with women who were fewer, one hundred eighty-eight patients. The mean age of the patients who were included in this study was 46 years. More than half of them were between 20 and 40 years old; one hundred thirty-three patients among 20 to 30 years old and one hundred and one patients among 31 and 40 years old, in total two hundred thirty-four patients. 1. Introduction An imaging breakthrough had led us to pay more attention in small anatomic structures such as the meniscofemoral ligaments. Meniscofemoral ligaments are straight bands of collagen that attach to the posterior horn of lateral meniscus and lateral part of medial femoral condyle [1]. For some authors, the meniscofemoral ligament is one ligament with two distinct bands, whereas for others are two distinct ligaments. The anterior meniscofemoral ligament (aMFL) which is leaning anterior to the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is also known as ligament of Humphrey, and the posterior meniscofemoral ligament (pMFL) leaning posterior to PCL is known as ligament of Wrisberg [1–6]. The incidence of the aMFL and pMFL ranges in the literature, although most of the studies are anatomic studies [2–7]. There are not many reports in the literature regarding magnetic imaging examination of the respective ligaments.The purpose of the present study is to elucidate the incidence of ligaments concerning the distribution among males and females and among patients with different ages. 2. Materials and Methods Six hundred and three knee MRI examinations performed at our hospital during the period 2010-2011. Exclusion criteria include the patients with limitation on diagnosis due to motion artifacts and with imaging findings of PCL and lateral meniscus (LM) pathology. The remaining five hundred knee MRI exams were included in this retrospective study. The age of the patients ranged from 29 to 73 years (mean age 46 years). The patients were admitted for MRI exam either for chronic knee pain or after trauma. All patients underwent MRI exams that were performed at 1 Tesla scanner (Siemens Expert Plus) using a phased-array knee coil. Each patient was positioned
References
[1]
D. W. Stoller, A. E. Li, L. J. Anderson, and W. D. Cannon, “Magnetic resonance imaging,” in Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. The Knee, p. 450, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, Md, USA, 3d edition, 2007.
[2]
A. A. Amis, C. M. Gupte, A. M. J. Bull, and A. Edwards, “Anatomy of the posterior cruciate ligament and the meniscofemoral ligaments,” Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 257–263, 2006.
[3]
C. M. Gupte, A. Smith, I. D. McDermott, A. M. J. Bull, R. D. Thomas, and A. A. Amis, “Meniscofemoral ligaments revisited,” Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery B, vol. 84, no. 6, pp. 846–851, 2002.
[4]
C. M. Gupte, A. Smith, N. Jamieson, A. M. J. Bull, R. D. Thomas, and A. A. Amis, “Meniscofemoral ligaments—structural and material properties,” Journal of Biomechanics, vol. 35, no. 12, pp. 1623–1629, 2002.
[5]
B. Y. Lee, W. H. Jee, J. M. Kim, B. S. Kim, and K. H. Choi, “Incidence and significance of demonstrating the meniscofemoral ligament on MRI,” British Journal of Radiology, vol. 73, no. 867, pp. 271–274, 2000.
[6]
D. Hassine, J. M. Feron, M. C. Henry-Feugeas, E. Schouman-Claeys, H. Guerin Surville, and G. Frija, “The meniscofemoral ligaments: magnetic resonance imaging and anatomic correlations,” Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 59–63, 1992.
[7]
C. A. Makris, A. D. Georgoulis, C. D. Papageorgiou, U. G. Moebius, and P. N. Soucacos, “Posterior cruciate ligament architecture: evaluation under microsurgical dissection,” Arthroscopy, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 627–632, 2000.
[8]
A. R. Poynton, S. M. Javadpour, P. J. Finegan, and M. O'Brien, “The meniscofemoral ligaments of the knee,” Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery B, vol. 79, no. 2, pp. 327–330, 1997.
[9]
T. Kusayama, C. D. Harner, G. J. Carlin, J. W. Xerogeanes, and B. A. Smith, “Anatomical and biomechanical characteristics of human meniscofemoral ligaments,” Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 234–237, 1994.
[10]
B. Coulier, “Signification of the unusual delineation of the anterior meniscofemoral ligament of Humphrey during knee arthro-CT,” Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 121–128, 2009.
[11]
R. J. Last, “Some anatomical details of the knee joint,” The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, vol. 30, pp. 683–688, 1948.
[12]
D. C. Covey and A. A. Sapega, “Anatomy and function of the posterior cruciate ligament,” Clinics in Sports Medicine, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 509–518, 1994.
[13]
C. J. Moran, A. R. Poynton, R. Moran, and M. O. Brien, “Analysis of meniscofemoral ligament tension during knee motion,” Arthroscopy, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 362–366, 2006.
[14]
J. M. Cho, J. S. Suh, J. B. Na et al., “Variations in meniscofemoral ligaments at anatomical study and MR imaging,” Skeletal Radiology, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 189–195, 1999.
[15]
H. O. Amadi, C. M. Gupte, D. T. T. Lie, I. D. McDermott, A. A. Amis, and A. M. J. Bull, “A biomechanical study of the meniscofemoral ligaments and their contribution to contact pressure reduction in the knee,” Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, vol. 16, no. 11, pp. 1004–1008, 2008.
[16]
H. Erbagci, H. Yildirim, N. Kizilkan, and E. Gümüsburun, “An MRI study of the meniscofemoral and transverse ligaments of the knee,” Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 120–124, 2002.