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Measuring stiffness of normal medial collateral ligament in healthy volunteers via shear wave elastography

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Abstract

Purpose

We aim to determine a reference data set for normal medial collateral ligament (MCL) stiffness values using shear wave elastography (SWE).

Methods

Quantitative stiffness of the MCL was measured at three levels: the proximal (MCL area from the level of the medial meniscus to the level of the femoral attachment), the middle (MCL area at the level of the medial meniscus), and the distal (MCL area from the level of the medial meniscus to the level of the tibial attachment) segments of the MCL at a knee position of 0°.

Results

A total of 60 MCL of 30 healthy volunteers (15 female, 15 male) were examined. The mean stiffness values of the proximal, middle, and distal MCL for observer 1 were 32.25 ± 6.44, 34.25 ± 6.84, and 35.47 ± 6.98, respectively. The mean stiffness values of the proximal, middle, and distal MCL for observer 2 were 33.56 ± 6.76, 35.44 ± 6.91, and 36.32 ± 7.04, respectively.

Conclusion

SWE has a strong potential to be a method of choice for evaluating MCL stiffness. Our study participants were healthy volunteers and the data can be used as reference data for future studies.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr Ahmet Emin Okutan, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery from Zile State Hospital, for their helpful suggestions in the preparation of the manuscript.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. İskilip Atıf Hoca State Hospital, 19400, Çorum, Turkey

    Enes Gürün

  2. Department of Radiology, Gazi University, 06560, Ankara, Turkey

    Mehmet Aksakal & İsmail Akdulum

Authors
  1. Enes Gürün
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  2. Mehmet Aksakal
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  3. İsmail Akdulum
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Contributions

E Gurun: Project development, Data Collection, Data analysis, Manuscript writing/editing. M Aksakal: Project development, Data Collection, Data analysis, Manuscript writing/editing. I Akdulum: Project development, Data Collection, Manuscript writing/editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Enes Gürün.

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Ethical approval

The study was approved by the local ethics committee (decision no:387). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Verbal and written informed consent was obtained from the patient and control groups.

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Gürün, E., Aksakal, M. & Akdulum, İ. Measuring stiffness of normal medial collateral ligament in healthy volunteers via shear wave elastography. Surg Radiol Anat 43, 1673–1679 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-021-02749-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-021-02749-y

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