title: The patellar tendon.
abstract: The patellar tendon is well suited to sonographic evaluation because it is large and superficial and thus easily demonstrated. Sonography is a focused examination, concentrating on the area of pain and clinical suspicion. Its advantages over MR imaging are the speed of performance, better spatial resolution, capability of dynamic evaluation, and real-time guidance for percutaneous procedures. In addition, the advent of extended field-of-view imaging allows the demonstration of the entire length or cross section of an area of interest, matching MR imaging's ability to display a large anatomical region. This article reviews the sonographic appearances of disorders of the patellar tendon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY 10021, USA. millertt@hss.edu
authors.forename: Theodore T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055034:Osteochondrosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D017847:Patellar Ligament / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000293:injuries*; D012216:Rheumatic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography