Clinical features and classification of bipartite or tripartite patella

The purposes of this study were to report clinical features of the developmental anomaly of ossification type bipartite or tripartite patella using a large series and to propose a new classification for the developmental anomaly of ossification type bipartite or tripartite patella. The first author prospectively examined 111 patients with symptomatic or asymptomatic bipartite (131 knees) or tripartite (8 knees) patellae. Eighty-six (77%) were male and 25 (23%) were female. Forty-three patients (39%) showed right knee involvement and 40 (36%) showed left, while 28 (25%) showed involvement in both knees. Forty-six bipartite and 4 tripartite patellae (36%) were symptomatic and 85 bipartite and 4 tripartite patellae (64%) were asymptomatic at initial examination. The median age at onset of pain of symptomatic patients (50 knees) was 15.6 ± 8.1 years (range, 10–51 years). The most common symptom was pain at the separated fragments during or after strenuous activity in all 50 knees. Physical examination revealed localized tenderness over the separated fragments in all 50 knees. Bipartite or tripartite patellae were classified by evaluating location and number of fragments. One hundred fifteen knees (83%) were classified as supero-lateral bipartite type, 16 (12%) were lateral bipartite type, 6 (4%) were supero-lateral and lateral tripartite type, and 2 (1%) were supero-lateral tripartite type. For the developmental anomaly of ossification type bipartite or tripartite patella, a classification based on both location and number of fragments is simple and easy to understand and applicable to all types of bipartite or tripartite patella.