Purpose
to investigate the association between the lateral femoral condylar ratio (LFCR),
the posterior tibial slope (PTS), and injury of the anterolateral ligament (ALL).
Methods
Inclusion criteria were patients with acute anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear
after noncontact injury during sports from October 1997 to May 2021. The LFCR and
PTS were measured, and injury of the ALL was evaluated. Patients were divided into
2 groups: isolated ACL tear (isolated group) and combined ACL with ALL tear (combined
group). The LFCR and PTS were compared between the isolated and combined groups. For
each risk factor, the receiver operating characteristic curve, the area under the
curve (AUC), and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to determine the
cutoff for detecting increased risk of ALL injury.
Results
There were 83 patients in the isolated group and 176 patients in the combined group.
Demographics of the 2 groups did not differ significantly. The LFCR was significantly
larger in the combined group than in the isolated group (P = .000). The PTS did not differ between the two groups (P = .405). The LFCR (odds ratio [OR] = 1.58; P = .000) was a significant factor. Age, body mass index, and PTS were not associated
with an ALL injury. The AUC (0.79; 95% CI, 0.74-0.85) for the LFCR had a sensitivity
of 73% and specificity of 76% to predict an ALL rupture. The calculated cutoff of
64.5 was associated with an increased risk for ALL rupture (OR = 8.65; 95% CI, 4.73-15.81)
when compared with the isolated group.
Conclusions
An increased LFCR was associated with the ALL injury. However, increased PTS was not
associated with ALL injury. These findings need to be considered for clinicians in
treating ACL tear patients at risk for an ALL injury.
Level of Evidence
III, retrospective comparative prognostic trial.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to ArthroscopyAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Fate of the lateral femoral notch following early anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.Knee. 2020; 27: 414-419
- The relationship between lateral femoral condyle index and noncontact anterior cruciate ligament rupture.Int J Gen Med. 2022; 15: 1789-1794
- Introducing the lateral femoral condyle index as a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament injury.Am J Sports Med. 2019; 47: 2420-2426
- Increased slope of the lateral tibial plateau subchondral bone is associated with greater risk of noncontact ACL injury in females but not in males: A prospective cohort study with a nested, matched case-control analysis.Am J Sports Med. 2014; 42: 1039-1048
- An association between femoral trochlear morphology and non-contact anterior cruciate ligament total rupture: A retrospective MRI study.Skeletal Radiol. 2021; 50: 1441-1454
- Posterior tibial slope and further anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the anterior cruciate ligament-reconstructed patient.Am J Sports Med. 2013; 41: 2800-2804
- An increased lateral femoral condyle ratio is a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament injury.J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2018; 100: 857-864
- Knee morphology and risk factors for developing an anterior cruciate ligament rupture: An MRI comparison between ACL-ruptured and non-injured knees.Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2014; 22: 987-994
- In vivo evidence for tibial plateau slope as a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Am J Sports Med. 2012; 40: 1673-1681
- Relationship between posterior-inferior tibial slope and bilateral noncontact ACL injury.Orthopedics. 2017; 40: e136-e140
- Association of ligamentous laxity, male sex, chronicity, meniscal injury, and posterior tibial slope with a high-grade preoperative pivot shift: A post hoc analysis of the STABILITY Study.Orthop J Sports Med. 2021; 9 (23259671211000038)
- High prevalence of anterolateral ligament abnormalities in magnetic resonance images of anterior cruciate ligament-injured knees.Acta Orthop Belg. 2014; 80: 45-49
- Biomechanical assessment of the anterolateral ligament of the knee: A secondary restraint in simulated tests of the pivot shift and of anterior stability.J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2016; 98: 937-943
- The role of the anterolateral structures and the ACL in controlling laxity of the intact and ACL-deficient knee.Am J Sports Med. 2016; 44: 345-354
- The involvement of the anterolateral ligament in rotational control of the knee.Am J Sports. 2016; 44: 1209-1214
- Novel measurement technique of the tibial slope on conventional MRI.Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2009; 467: 2066-2072
- Incidence of anterolateral ligament tears in the anterior cruciate ligament-deficient knee: A magnetic resonance imaging analysis.Arthroscopy. 2018; 34: 2170-2176
- Medial and lateral posterior tibial slope are independent risk factors for noncontact ACL injury in both men and women.Orthop J Sports Med. 2021; 9 (23259671211015940)
- Is the femoral lateral condyle’s bone morphology the trochlea of the ACL?.Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2017; 25: 207-214
- The role of the posterolateral tibial slope in the rotational instability of the knee in patients affected by a complete isolated anterior cruciate ligament injury: Its value in the decision-making process during the anterolateral ligament reconstruction.Joints. 2020; 7: 78-83
- Increased lateral femoral condyle ratio is associated with greater risk of ALC injury in non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury.Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2021; 29: 3077-3084
- The Anterolateral Ligament of the Knee: An Updated Systematic Review of Anatomy, Biomechanics, and Clinical Outcomes.Arthroscopy. 2021; 37: 1654-1666
- Outcomes after isolated acute anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction are inferior in patients with an associated anterolateral ligament injury.Am J Sports Med. 2020; 48: 3177-3182
- Anterolateral ligament reconstruction is associated with significantly reduced ACL graft rupture rates at a minimum follow-up of 2 years: A prospective comparative study of 502 patients from the SANTI Study Group.Am J Sports Med. 2017; 45: 1547-1557
- Anterolateral ligament of the knee: Diagnosis, indications, technique, outcomes.Arthroscopy. 2019; 35: 302-303
- Bone morphology and morphometry of the lateral femoral condyle is a risk factor for ACL injury.Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2018; 26: 2817-2825
Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 11, 2022
Accepted:
November 14,
2022
Received:
April 26,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofFootnotes
The authors report that they have no conflicts of interest in the authorship and publication of this article. Full ICMJE author disclosure forms are available for this article online, as supplementary material.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 by the Arthroscopy Association of North America