Original ArticleAssociation between trochlear morphology and chondromalacia patella: an MRI study
Section snippets
Introductıon
Chondromalacia patella, which is one of the major causes of chronic anterior knee pain, is characterized by the softening or breakdown of the patellar cartilage and is frequently associated with decreased quality of life. Osteoarthritis is generally associated with a progressive loss of articular cartilage [1], [2]. Osteoarthritis is a major public health concern and is expected to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the general population by 2020 because of increases in life
Patients
One hundred fifty patients who were diagnosed with Grade 3–4 patellar chondromalacia on the basis of MRI evaluation between January 2015 and October 2015 were retrospectively evaluated. The exclusion criteria were any history of knee surgery or knee trauma and an imaging finding of a patellar dislocation, inflammatory arthritis, any diagnosis of space-occupying knee lesion, and age <40 or>65 years. Thus, a total of 115 patients were included in the present study. The control group comprised an
Results
The characteristics of the study patients are presented in Table 1. The SA, LTI, MTI and TA comparisons between groups are given in Table 2. The mean LTI (P=.01) and TA (P=.001) were significantly lower in the chondromalacia patella group than those in the normal group. The mean SA was significantly higher in patients with chondromalacia patella than in control patients (P=.01). No statistically significant difference was found in MTI between the two groups (P=.55).
Discussion
The results of the present study revealed an association between patellar cartilage structural damage and trochlear morphology. Patellar cartilage defects are observed more frequently in knees with a low LTI than in those with a high LTI. This finding supports our hypothesis that knees with flattened lateral trochlea are more prone to patellar cartilage structural damage.
Osteoarthritis is a progressive degenerative disease characterized by a gradual loss of articular cartilage. The geometry of
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