Abstract
Background:
The ability to predict meniscus tear reparability based on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is desirable for postoperative planning; however, the accuracy of predictive methods varies widely within the orthopaedic and radiology literature.
Purpose/Hypothesis:
The purpose was to determine if the higher resolution offered by 3-T MRI improves the accuracy of predicting reparability compared with previous investigations using 1.5-T MRI. Our hypothesis was that a higher field strength of 3-T MRI would result in improved reliability assessments and predictions of meniscus tear reparability compared with previous studies utilizing a 1.5-T MRI platform.
Study Design:
Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 2.
Methods:
A total of 44 patients who underwent meniscus repair were matched by age, sex, and body mass index to 43 patients who underwent partial meniscectomy. Overall, 2 orthopaedic surgeons and 2 musculoskeletal radiologists independently and blindly reviewed the preoperative MRI scans for all 87 patients. For each meniscus tear, reviewers evaluated the following criteria: tear pattern, tear length, tear distance from the meniscocapsular junction, tear thickness, and integrity of any inner meniscal fragment. The resultant data were then applied to 5 different approaches for predicting meniscal reparability.
Results:
The accuracy for all examined prediction methods was poor, ranging from 55% (3-point method) to 72% (classification tree method) among all reviewers. Interobserver reliability for examined criteria was also poor, with kappa values ranging from 0.07 (inner meniscal fragment status) to 0.40 (tear pattern).
Conclusion:
MRI continues to be a poor predictor of meniscus tear reparability as assessed by arthroscopic criteria, even when using higher resolution 3-T scanners. Interobserver reliability in this setting can be poor, even among experienced clinicians.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
