ArticleMuscles, ligaments and tendons journal
Characterising the proximal patellar tendon attachment and its relationship to skeletal maturity in adolescent ballet dancers.
Article in Muscles, ligaments and tendons journal. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Key Factors Impacting Performance Health During Growth and Maturation in Adolescent Competitive Aesthetic and Acrobatic Athletes: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Addressing muscle-tendon imbalances in adult male athletes with personalized exercise prescription based on tendon strain.European journal of applied physiology · 2024Article
- Changes in patellar tendon complaints and shear wave velocity patterns among competitive alpine skiers during a 4-year post-growth spurt follow-up.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Article
- Patellar tendon structure responds to load over a 7-week preseason in elite male volleyball players.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2019Article
- Morphological and Mechanical Properties of the Quadriceps Femoris Muscle-Tendon Unit From Adolescence to Adulthood: Effects of Age and Athletic Training.Frontiers in physiology · 2019Article
- Patellar Tendon Strain Associates to Tendon Structural Abnormalities in Adolescent Athletes.Frontiers in physiology · 2019Article
- Therapeutic interventions in children and adolescents with patellar tendon related pain: a systematic review.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIt is unknown how and when the proximal attachment of the patellar tendon matures; puberty may be key in ensuring normal tendon formation. The aim of this study was to investigate the features of the proximal patellar tendon attachment at different stages of skeletal maturity, to help gain an understanding of how and when the tendon attachment matures.
methodsSixty adolescent elite ballet students (ages 11-18) and eight mature adults participated. Peak height velocity (PHV) estimated skeletal maturity. Ultrasound tissue characterisation (UTC) scan was taken of the left knee and analysed for stability of echopattern. An image-based grading scale for greyscale ultrasound was developed to describe the tendon appearance. Anterior-posterior thickness was measured at the inferior pole of the patella, 1 and 2 centimetres distally. Outcomes were compared with skeletal maturity.
resultsMid-portion patellar tendon thickness increased with skeletal maturity (p=0.001 at 1 cm and p=0.007 at 2 cm). There was more variance in structural appearance (greyscale classification and UTC echopattern) in pre and peri-PHV participants. Tendon attachment one-year post PHV appeared similar to mature tendons.
conclusionsEarly adolescence was associated with highly variable tendon appearance, whereas the tendon appeared mature after PHV. Adolescence may be a critical time for the formation of normal tendon attachment. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IIb individual cohort study.
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