title: MRI of patellar tendon anterior cruciate ligament autografts.
abstract: Twenty-one MR examinations were performed in 15 patients with clinically stable knees after arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with patellar bone-tendon-tibial bone autografts. The postoperative interval ranged from 3 months to 3 years 3 months (average 9.5 months). Proton- and T2-weighted sagittal images with axial and oblique sagittal T1-weighted images were obtained. The MR appearance of the autografts was categorized depending on distribution of dark signal band into type 1 (continuous, two patients), type 2 (proximal half, eight patients), type 3 (distal half, two patients), and type 4 (nonvisualization, three patients). There was no change in appearance of the grafts in those who had a second imaging within 1 year postoperatively. We conclude that the normal ACL autograft has a variable appearance and that criteria used in evaluating the native ligament is inadequate to assess the autografts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Dokkyo University, School of Medicine, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamato
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016025:Bone Transplantation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010329:Patella / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013710:Tendons / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D013977:Tibia / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013997:Time Factors; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous