Fernández-Jaén (2015)20 | 364M/166F 33.6 years | MRI | ICN width and α angle | ACL-injured patients had higher α angles (p<0.009) and lower ICN widths (p<0.001). Women had smaller ICN widths (p<0.001) | ACL tears are associated with narrower ICN widths and higher α angles |
Alentorn-Geli (2015)19 | 99M/0F 33.4 years | MRI | CTS, PTS, MTS, LTS, ATS, intercondylar depth, ICN width, ICN angle, condylar width, NWI, M:L ratio | In both coronal and axial planes, the ACL-injured patients had decreased ICN angles (p<0.001 and <0.008, respectively). In the sagittal plane, ACL-injured patients had significantly higher PTS (p=0.003), MTS (p<0.001) and LTS (p=0.02), lower ATS (p<0.01), and higher angle between the Blumensaat line and ATS (p<0.02) | ICN angle may be better than notch width to evaluate notch narrowing and its potential association with ACL injuries. PTS seems to be associated with ACL injury in male patients |
Zeng (2014)28 | 106M/40F 28.2 years | Radiography | PTS: longitudinal axis, posterior tibial cortex and anterior tibial cortex | The mean PTS of the ACL-injured group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p<0.001). The anterior tibial cortex method produced the largest PTS values and the posterior tibial cortex method resulted in the smallest PTS values | Increased PTS was associated with the risk of non-contact ACL injury for the Chinese population. The longitudinal axis method is most recommended for measuring PTS in lateral radiographs |
Stijak (2014)7 | 42M/24F 30 years | Radiography and MRI | Width and the height of the ICN | Significant correlation between the width of ACL, and the width (p<0.01) and height (p<0.05) of ICN in the control group, but not in the experimental group (p>0.05) | Narrower ICN contains a proportionally narrow ACL, but not significant to ACL tear |
van Diek (2014)8 | 47M/41F 33.6 years | MRI | MTS, LTS, ICN width, NWI, BCW, MCW, LCW | Significant smaller bicondylar (p=0.002) and lateral condyle widths (p=0.002) for ACL-injured women when compared to non-injured women | Condyle size may influence knee kinematics, especially knee rotation, which might lead to a higher risk of an ACL tear |
Al-Saeed (2013)9 | 392M/168F 38 years | MRI | Femoral notch shape, NWI | NWI was low in 37% (88 participants) with type A notch compared to 27.5% (88 participants) with type U or W notch. Only 17% of patients with ACL tears (48/280) had a low NWI | The ‘A’-shaped femoral notch appears to be a risk factor for ACL tear, whereas a reduced NWI does not seem to influence the risk of ACL tears |
Park (2012)10 | 76M/44F 37.9 years | MRI | NW, BCW, MCW, LCW, M:L ratio, NWI, width of NE | NW and MCW in male group were significantly different (p<0.001); NW, MCW, M:L ratio and NWI in female group were significantly different (p<0.001) | The NW was smaller and the MCW was wider in the ACL-injured patients, for both genders |
Miljko (2012)11 | 0M/54F 18.9 years | MRI | ICN width, inner angle of the lateral condyle, Q angle | Inner angle of lateral condyle was significantly higher in athletes with ACL tear (p<0.001). ICNW was statistically smaller in athletes with ACL tear (p<0.001) | The inner angle of the lateral condyle better predicts ACL injury than the ICNW |
Sonnery-Cottet (2011)21 | 70M/30F 36 years | Radiography and MRI | PTS, NWI | Significantly increased PTS (p<0.001) and a smaller NWI (p<0.001) in participants with ACL tear. In both groups the PTS was negatively correlated to the NWI (r=−0.28, p=0.0052); and both measures were consider risk factors (p=0.006 and p<0.01, for PTS and NWI, respectively) | Either a steep PTS or a narrow NWI predisposes to an ACL injury |
Vrooijink (2011)12 | 49M/40F 33.7 years | MRI and intraoperatively | NW, BCW, MCW, LCW, M:L ratio, NWI, width of NE | Male participants had smaller BCW (p=0.002) and MCW (p=0.008); and female participants had larger BCW (p=0.009) and LCW (p=0.002) | NW was a risk factor only in the male population. The condyle size was found to be a risk factor for ACL injury |
Chung (2011)22 | 41M/7F 26.8 years | Radiography | Mechanical axis, tibiofemoral angle, PTS, NWI, hip neck-shaft angle | Smaller NWI in ACL-deficient participants (p=0.02) | Small NW was associated with a thin ACL, which can be regarded as an intrinsic risk factor for ACL injuries |
van Eck (2011)13 | 55M/45F 33.3 years | MRI and open-source imaging software (OsiriX) | Notch volume, Notch height, NW at bottom, NW at middle, NW at top | Men with ACL injury had a larger notch volume (p<0.032). The notch volume was larger for the group with ACL injury, which differences approached statistical significance (p<0.054) | There was a trend toward larger notch volumes in patients with ACL injury compared with patients without ACL injury |
Hoteya (2011)23 | 37M/38F 23 years | Radiography and MRI | NWI | ICN significantly narrower in participants with bilateral ACL injuries than in healthy subjects (p<0.05). A cut-off value of 0.25 for NWI-P gave an OR of 22.667 for the risk of developing bilateral ACL knee injuries | The risk for ACL injuries is very high when NWI is <0.25 |
Şenışık (2011)26 | 64M/0F 22.7 years | Radiography | PTS | PTS of the dominant legs of ACL-injured players was significantly higher when compared to uninjured players (p<0.001). Players with an PTS over 9.57° had fivefold higher risk of ACL injury | PTS degree might be an important risk factor for ACL injury |
Hohmann (2010)25 | 51M/17F 27.7 years | Radiography | PTS | The PTS, when divided into intervals of 0–4°, 5–9° and >10°, had a strong significant correlation between knee functionality and slope for ACL-deficient patients (r=0.91, p=0.01) and for ACL-reconstructed patients (r=0.96, p=0.0001) | ACL-deficient and ACL-reconstructed patients with higher PTS have more functional knees |
Stein (2010)14 | 79M/81F 62.1 years | MRI | NW, condylar NW and NWI at 2/3 of the notch depth, ICN angle | NWI on the coronal images was significantly smaller in participants with ACL tear (p=0.01) | Smaller NWI is associated with ACL tears in patient's with knee osteoarthritis |
Musahl (2010) 15 | 22M/27F 26 years | MRI | AP and ML diameter of femoral condyles and tibial plateaus | ML diameter of the tibial plateau was significantly greater for patients with pivot shift grade I when compared to grade II (p<0.05) | A smaller ML tibial plateau diameter may contribute to a patient's higher grade pivot shift |
Everhart (2010)16 | 34M/20F Not reported | MRI and computer-generated surface models | Widths of the anterior and posterior ICN outlets, femoral notch outlet shape, thickness of the bone ridge | Increasing bone ridge thickness was strongly associated with non-contact ACL injury (p=0.0014). Also, anterior and posterior femoral notch outlet stenosis was significantly associated with non-contact ACL injury (p=0.0008 and 0.02, respectively) | A bone ridge in the anteromedial aspect of the ICN and notch stenosis are associated with non-contact ACL injury |
Simon (2010)17 | 34M/20F Not reported | MRI | Tibial plateau slope, ICN width and volume | The lateral tibial plateaus of ACL-injured contralateral knees had a significantly steeper posterior slope (p=0.02). The ICNW was found to be smaller in the injured patients (p=0.003 and 0.02, for inlet and outlet, respectively). The ICN volume was correlated to ACL volume (r=0.58) | Lateral tibial plateaus considered a risk factor for ACL injury in the opposite knee. The ICNW at the inlet was the best predictor of ACL injury |
Hashemi (2010)24 | 44M/60F 33.2 years | MRI | MTS, LTS, CTS, MTD | ACL-injured participants presented increased MTS and LTS and shallower MTD. MTD OR of 3.03 (per 1 mm of decreased) and LTS OR of 1.17 (per 1° increased). MTS OR of 1.18 (per 1° increased) only in men | Increased posterior-directed tibial plateau slope and shallower MTD could be a major risk factor in ACL injury |
Todd (2010) 27 | 221M/98F 25.2 years | Radiography | PTS | ACL group had significantly greater PTS than control (p=0.003). When independently analysing gender, only women showed statistically significant differences between ACL and control groups | Increased PTS may be a possible risk factor for women |
Brandon (2006) 29 | 115M/85F Not reported | Radiography | PITS | ACL-insufficient patients had a significantly steeper PITS than control group (p<0.001). High-grade pivot-shift participants had greater PITS values than low grade pivot-shift ones (p<0.02) | A higher pivot-shift grade is associated with an increased degree of PITS, which in turn is associated with ACL tear |
Lombardo (2005)18 | 305M/0F Not reported | Radiography | NW, condylar width, NWI | No differences between ACL-injured and non-injured players (p=0.534) | The NWI did not predict the rate of ACL injury |