J Korean Knee Soc.  2010 Sep;22(3):208-214.

Clinical Relevance of the Femoral Intercondylar Notch Width and the Posterior Tibial Slope for ACL Rupture

• Seo SS
• Kim CW
• Kim KW
• Min YK

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the femoral intercondylar notch width (ICW), the posterior tibial slope angle (PTS), rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the ruptured site.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed 105 cases of ruptured ACL (105 patients), and 91 cases of intact ACL (91 patients). The ICW and PTS were measured from the plain knee radiographs. The ratio of the ICW and the femoral intercondylar notch height (ICH) was also measured. As for the site of ACL rupture, the patients with a ruptured ACL were divided into 3 groups (group 1: femoral attach site, 2: mid-substance, 3: tibial attach site), and the correlations between the ICW and the PTS of each group were analyzed.
RESULTS
The mean ICW of the ACL ruptured group was 15.51+/-4.30 mm (95% confidence interval: 15.48~15.53), that of the ACL intact group was 24.49+/-3.86 mm (24.47~24.52), and the mean PTS of the ruptured ACL group was 7.68+/-3.78degrees (7.65~7.70) and that of the intact ACL group was 6.12+/-3.85degrees (6.10~6.13). A narrow ICW was a significant risk factors for ACL rupture (odds ratio=0.661 [0.602~0.720], p<0.01). But we did not get any statistically significant results for the increase PTS (odds ratio=1.073 [1.062~1.134], p=0.197). According to the ruptured site, the analysis of variance of the ICW and PTS had no significant correlation.
CONCLUSION
A narrow ICW is a significant risk factor for ACL rupture.

Keyword

Rupture of anterior cruciate ligament; Femoral intercondylar notch width; Posterior tibial slope angle

MeSH Terms

Anterior Cruciate Ligament
Humans
Knee
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Rupture