title: MRI appearance of posterior cruciate ligament tears.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is little in the radiology literature regarding the MRI appearance of a torn posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). The purpose of this study was to describe the MRI appearance of surgically proven PCL tears and to emphasize previously unreported signs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PCL is usually injured as the result of stretching deformation; on MRI, the ligament maintains continuity as a single structure with apparent thickening. On sagittal T2-weighted images, an anteroposterior diameter of 7 mm or more is highly suggestive of a torn PCL. Increased intrasubstance signal intensity in the PCL on proton-density images with lower signal intensity on T2-weighted images is another common feature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3808, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Emily N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Vinson
authors.forename: Clyde A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Helms
authors.forename: Alison P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Toth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016119:Posterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000293:injuries*; D012189:Retrospective Studies