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MRI evaluation of the peripheral attachments of the lateral meniscal body: the menisco-tibio-popliteus-fibular complex

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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

To determine, identify and measure the structures of the menisco-tibio-popliteus-fibular complex (MTPFC) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in knees without structural abnormalities or a history of knee surgery.

Methods

One-hundred-and-five knees without prior injury or antecedent surgery were analyzed by means of MRI. The average age was 50.1 years ± 14.8. All the measurements were performed by three observers. The peripherical structures of the lateral meniscus body were identified to determine the location, size, and thickness of the entire MTPFC. The distance to other “key areas” in the lateral compartment was also studied and compared by gender and age.

Results

The lateral meniscotibial ligament (LMTL) was found in 97.1% of the MRIs, the popliteofibular ligament (PFL) in 93.3%, the popliteomeniscal ligaments (PML) in 90.4% and the meniscofibular ligament (MFL) in 39%. The anteroposterior distance of the LMTL in an axial view was 20.7 mm ± 3.9, the anterior thickness of the LMTL was 1.1 mm ± 0.3, and the posterior thickness of the LMTL 1.2 mm ± 0.1 and the height in a coronal view was 10.8 mm ± 1.9. The length of the PFL in a coronal view was 8.7 mm ± 2.5, the thickness was 1.4 mm ± 0.4 and the width in an axial view was 7.8 mm ± 2.2.

Conclusions

The MTPFC has a constant morphological and anatomical pattern for three of its main ligaments and can be easily identified and measured in an MRI; the MFL has a lower prevalence, considering a structure difficult to identify by 1.5 T MRI.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out within the framework of the PhD program in Surgery and Morphological Sciences of the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, as part of the thesis by a compendium of publications of the first author of the study. The authors thank Mr. Eric Goode for his help in correcting the manuscript.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Knee Unit, Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, University Hospital “Dr, José Eleuterio González”, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León (U.A.N.L.), Monterrey, Nuevo León, México

    Rodolfo Morales-Avalos, José Ramón Padilla-Medina, Félix Vilchez-Cavazos & Víctor Peña-Martínez

  2. Knee and Arthroscopy Unit, ICATME, Hospital Universitari Dexeus, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (U.A.B.), Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain

    Rodolfo Morales-Avalos, Ángel Masferrer-Pino, Simone Perelli & Joan Carles Monllau

  3. Departamento de Cirugía, Facultad de Medicina, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, (U.A.B.), Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain

    Rodolfo Morales-Avalos & Joan Carles Monllau

  4. Centro de Radiodiagnostico e Imagen, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México

    Eustorgio Ruiz-Chapa & Juan Francisco García-Quintanilla

  5. Department of Human Anatomy, School of Medicine, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León (U.A.N.L.), C.P. 64460, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México

    Rodrigo Elizondo-Omaña, Santos Guzmán-López & Juan Francisco García-Quintanilla

  6. Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, Hospital del Mar I L’Esperança, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (U.A.B.), Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain

    Simone Perelli & Joan Carles Monllau

Authors
  1. Rodolfo Morales-Avalos
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  2. Ángel Masferrer-Pino
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  3. Eustorgio Ruiz-Chapa
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  6. Víctor Peña-Martínez
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  7. Rodrigo Elizondo-Omaña
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  9. Santos Guzmán-López
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  10. Juan Francisco García-Quintanilla
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  11. Joan Carles Monllau
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation, data collection were performed by RMA, ERC, AMP and JRPM. The methodology was designed by JFGQ. Formal analysis was achieved by SP. Writing—original draft preparation was carried out by FVC: Writing, review and editing was executed by REEO, VMPM and SGL Supervision was carried out by JCM and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Santos Guzmán-López.

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Conflict of interest

Each author certifies that neither he or she, nor any member of his or her immediate family, has funding or commercial associations (consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article. Each author certifies that his or her institution approved the human protocol for this investigation and that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research.

Ethics approval

The present protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the School of Medicine and University Hospital "Dr. José Eleuterio Gonzalez” of the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon with registration number: OR20-00001.

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Morales-Avalos, R., Masferrer-Pino, Á., Ruiz-Chapa, E. et al. MRI evaluation of the peripheral attachments of the lateral meniscal body: the menisco-tibio-popliteus-fibular complex. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 30, 1461–1470 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-021-06633-5

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