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Steep posterior slope and shallow concave shape of the medial tibial plateau are risk factors for medial meniscus posterior root tears

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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

Bone morphological factors are important for menisci. Their association with medial meniscus posterior root tears, however, has not yet been studied. This study aimed to compare sagittal medial tibial slope and medial tibial plateau depth between knees with and without medial meniscus posterior root tears.

Methods

Nine healthy volunteers, 24 patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, and 36 patients who underwent medial meniscus posterior root pullout repair were included. Magnetic resonance imaging examinations were performed in the 10°-knee-flexed position. The medial tibial slope and medial tibial plateau depth were compared among the groups.

Results

In healthy volunteers, the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction group, and the medial meniscus posterior root tear group, the medial tibial slopes were 3.5° ± 1.4°, 4.0° ± 1.9°, and 7.2° ± 1.9°, respectively, and the medial tibial plateau depths were 2.1 ± 0.7 mm, 2.2 ± 0.6 mm, and 1.2 ± 0.5 mm, respectively. Patients with medial meniscus posterior root tears had a significantly steep medial tibial slope and shallow medial tibial plateau concavity compared to those of healthy volunteers (P < 0.01) and the anterior cruciate ligament group (P < 0.01). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, body mass index, medial tibial slope, and medial tibial plateau depth were significantly associated with medial meniscus posterior root tears.

Conclusions

A steep posterior slope and a shallow concave shape of the medial tibial plateau are risk factors for medial meniscus posterior root tear.

Level of evidence

Level III: Case–control study.

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Abbreviations

ACL:

Anterior cruciate ligament

BMI:

Body mass index

ICC:

Intra-class correlation coefficient

LTS:

Lateral tibial slope

MMPRT:

Medial meniscus posterior root tear

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

MTPD:

Medial tibial plateau depth

MTS:

Medial tibial slope

PRT:

Posterior root tear

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Acknowledgements

We thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing.

Funding

No funding was received in support of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikatacho, Kitaku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan

    Yuki Okazaki, Takayuki Furumatsu, Yuya Kodama, Yusuke Kamatsuki, Yoshiki Okazaki, Takaaki Hiranaka, Shota Takihira, Tomonori Tetsunaga, Kenta Saiga & Toshifumi Ozaki

Authors
  1. Yuki Okazaki
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  2. Takayuki Furumatsu
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Contributions

TF designed the study. YuKo, YuKa, and YuO contributed to the analysis and interpretation of data. All authors have contributed to data collection and interpretation and critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takayuki Furumatsu.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the International Review Board (IRB) of Okayama University (Ethical approval No. 1857).

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Okazaki, Y., Furumatsu, T., Kodama, Y. et al. Steep posterior slope and shallow concave shape of the medial tibial plateau are risk factors for medial meniscus posterior root tears. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 29, 44–50 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-019-05590-4

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