HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Muneta, T. Articles by Yamamoto, H. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Muneta, T. Articles by Yamamoto, H.

Intercondylar Notch Width and Its Relation to the Configuration and Cross-Sectional Area of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament

A Cadaveric Knee Study

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan

Kazuo Takakuda, PhD

Institute for Medical and Dental Engineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan

Haruyasu Yamamoto, MD

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan

If a narrow intercondylar notch contains a smaller an terior cruciate ligament, that may explain why people with narrow notches have a higher incidence of ante rior cruciate ligament injuries. To investigate the signif icance of notch width measurement, we used 16 em balmed cadaveric knees. A positive mold of the entire anterior cruciate ligament, including its femoral and tibial insertions, was created with silicone rubber and plaster commonly used for dental molding. We had two hypotheses to test from this study. One was that the dimensions of the anterior cruciate ligament can be predicted by the notch width. The other was that the size of a person's anterior cruciate ligament can be predicted by a caliper measurement of the intercondy lar notch. The width, sagittal length, and cross-sec tional area of the midsubstance and the femoral and tibial insertions of the anterior cruciate ligament were measured. The notch width index, the ratio of notch width to width of the femoral condyle, showed a posi tive correlation only to the ratio of width to sagittal length of the tibial insertion. None of the parameters showed any differences between the knees with a notch width index less than or equal to 0.2 and those with a notch width index greater than 0.2. The knees with small notch width indexes did not have thinner anterior cruciate ligaments in them. These findings may not be applicable to knees obtained from other races, i.e., not Japanese.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Y. Griffin, M. J. Albohm, E. A. Arendt, R. Bahr, B. D. Beynnon, M. DeMaio, R. W. Dick, L. Engebretsen, W. E. Garrett Jr, J. A. Hannafin, et al. Understanding and Preventing Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: A Review of the Hunt Valley II Meeting, January 2005 Am. J. Sports Med., September 1, 2006; 34(9): 1512 - 1532. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Chandrashekar, J. Slauterbeck, and J. Hashemi Sex-Based Differences in the Anthropometric Characteristics of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament and Its Relation to Intercondylar Notch Geometry: A Cadaveric Study Am. J. Sports Med., October 1, 2005; 33(10): 1492 - 1498. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Yu, S. B. McClure, J. A. Onate, K. M. Guskiewicz, D. T. Kirkendall, and W. E. Garrett Age and Gender Effects on Lower Extremity Kinematics of Youth Soccer Players in a Stop-Jump Task Am. J. Sports Med., September 1, 2005; 33(9): 1356 - 1364. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Lombardo, P. M. Sethi, and C. Starkey Intercondylar Notch Stenosis Is Not a Risk Factor for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears in Professional Male Basketball Players: An 11-Year Prospective Study Am. J. Sports Med., January 1, 2005; 33(1): 29 - 34. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. DeMorat, P. Weinhold, T. Blackburn, S. Chudik, and W. Garrett Aggressive Quadriceps Loading Can Induce Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Am. J. Sports Med., March 1, 2004; 32(2): 477 - 483. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. M. Wojtys, L. J. Huston, H. J. Schock, J. P. Boylan, and J. A. Ashton-Miller Gender Differences in Muscular Protection of the Knee in Torsion in Size-Matched Athletes J. Bone Joint Surg. Am., May 1, 2003; 85(5): 782 - 789. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. P. H. Charlton, T. A. St. John, M. G. Ciccotti, N. Harrison, and M. Schweitzer Differences in Femoral Notch Anatomy between Men and Women : A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study Am. J. Sports Med., May 1, 2002; 30(3): 329 - 333. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. M. Wojtys, J. A. Ashton-Miller, and L. J. Huston A Gender-Related Difference in the Contribution of the Knee Musculature to Sagittal-Plane Shear Stiffness in Subjects with Similar Knee Laxity J. Bone Joint Surg. Am., January 1, 2002; 84(1): 10 - 16. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				A. F. Anderson, D. C. Dome, S. Gautam, M. H. Awh, and G. W. Rennirt Correlation of Anthropometric Measurements, Strength, Anterior Cruciate Ligament Size, and Intercondylar Notch Characteristics to Sex Differences in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear Rates Am. J. Sports Med., January 1, 2001; 29(1): 58 - 66. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. D. Shelbourne, T. J. Davis, and T. E. Klootwyk The Relationship Between Intercondylar Notch Width of the Femur and the Incidence of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears: A Prospective Study Am. J. Sports Med., May 1, 1998; 26(3): 402 - 408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]