A new method to diagnose discoid lateral menisci on radiographs

Abstract

II.

Characteristic morphology of the proximal tibiofibular joint in patients with discoid lateral meniscus

“…Numerous studies have outlined the morphological characteristics of DLM [7,[21][22][23][24][25] and, compared with a normal meniscus, patients with DLM have a higher frequency of meniscal tears [5,6]. In this study, we showed that most patients with DLM have a horizontal-type PTFJ.…”

A new radiographic finding of adult symptomatic discoid lateral meniscus

“…It would directly lead to poor interobserver ICC result whiling measuring the obliquity. Jiang et al [ 3 ] developed new parameters using relative values of height of the fibular head/lateral joint space distance and lateral joint space distance/height of the lateral tibial spine. They claimed it could eliminate the influence of body dimensions such as height and weight and lead to better ROC curve area and higher specificity and sensitivity.…”

“…Although several radiographic findings have been reported, such as lateral joint space widening, squaring of the lateral femoral condyle, high fibula head, [ 3 – 6 ] some authors believe that plain radiography has little value in the detection of a discoid lateral meniscus. [ 7 , 8 ] The diagnostic value of current signs is still questionable.…”

“…[ 7 , 8 ] The diagnostic value of current signs is still questionable. For example, some authors [ 3 , 4 ] reported that height of the lateral tibia spine in discoid lateral meniscus group is lower than normal control group while other authors [ 6 ] reported complete opposite results. Therefore, we analyzed and compared several radiographic signs, including lateral joint space height (LJSH), lateral tibia spine height (LTSH), fibular head height (FHH), and lateral tibia plateau obliquity (LTPO), of adult symptomatic discoid lateral meniscus with matched controls to determine whether the diagnosis of discoid lateral meniscus on radiograph is possible and reliable.…”

A Reliable, Ultrasound-Based Method for the Diagnosis of Discoid Lateral Meniscus

“…However, the measurement of meniscus width is affected by the obstruction of femoral condyle on the ultrasound beam, thus the DLM width measured by ultrasound is significantly smaller than its true width and is closer to the NLM width, thereby reducing the diagnostic efficiency of the DLM width. The ratio parameter not only can reduce the SD of the direct measurement parameter but can also decline the effect of individual differences such as gender, age, height, weight on the result 20 , thus the diagnostic efficiency of 0.5*thickness/width (TW) is higher than thickness and width. The measurement of meniscus angle is less impacted by the femoral condyle, and it also can cut down the effect of individual differences on the results.…”