Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between isolated discoid
lateral meniscus (DLM) tears and the presence of articular cartilage lesions.
Methods
From January 2010 to January 2012, 252 consecutive patients diagnosed with an isolated
DLM tear during an arthroscopic procedure were included in this study. Demographic
variables, including gender, age, body mass index (BMI), traumatic history, time course,
and date of the DLM tear, were recorded. The relation between DLM tears and the presence
of articular cartilage lesions was analyzed by the χ2 test. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relation between these
variables and articular cartilage lesions.
Results
Of the patients with DLM tears, 67 (26.6%) also had articular cartilage lesions. The
most common type of DLM tear was the complex tear (46.8%). The most common location
of articular cartilage lesions was the lateral tibial plateau (11.6%). Lesions on
the opposing articular surfaces of the lateral compartment and patellofemoral joint
of the knee were found in 12 patients (4.8%) and 11 patients (4.4%), respectively.
There were no significant differences in the incidences of articular cartilage lesions
in patients with different types of DLM tears (P > .05). Gender (odds ratio [OR], 2.289; P = .012), BMI (OR, 1.991; P = .023), and time course (OR, 2.050; P = .034) were significantly associated with articular cartilage lesions.
Conclusions
DLM tears were more common in the context of degenerative tears. There was no significant
difference in the incidence of articular cartilage lesions among patients with different
types of DLM tears. Female patients, patients with a BMI greater than 23.0 kg/m2, or patients with a time course of greater than 6 months were more frequently observed
to also have articular cartilage lesions.
Level of Evidence
Level IV, therapeutic case series.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
November 25,
2013
Received:
April 7,
2013
Footnotes
The authors report that they have no conflicts of interest in the authorship and publication of this article.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
