title: [Patella partita in young athletes].
abstract: In 119 young athletes (116 boys and 3 girls), 171 patellae partitae were reviewed. The incidence of patella partita was 20% in boys and 2.2% in girls involved in athletics, being significantly higher (37.1%) in boys between 8 to 10 years of age than in older boys. According to the radiographic study, most cases of patella partita developed before the age of 12 years and the lesion could heal spontaneously in the patients under 13 years of age: the lesion healed in 83.9% of the patients who stopped playing sports, or played less strenuously, but in only 33.2% of those who continued playing as hard as before. From these results, patella partita is apparently caused by repeated stress on the marginal chondroosseous region of the developing patella and can heal spontaneously in growing children younger than 13 years in age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Tokushima University, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010007:Osteochondritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D010329:Patella / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries* / Q000502:physiology; D011859:Radiography; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012916:Soccer / Q000293:injuries*; D014945:Wound Healing