ArticleKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2022
Posterior tibial tubercle measured by the sagittal TT-TG distance correlates with increased risk for patellofemoral chondral lesions.
Article in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Magnetic resonance imaging is able to detect patellofemoral focal cartilage injuries: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2023Pooled it
- The apTTTG distance decreases linearly with knee flexion: A dynamic CT-based analysis in patients with patellofemoral instability.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Three-dimensional computed tomography-based comparison reveals divergent patellar and tibial tubercle behaviour between lateral closed-wedge and medial open-wedge high tibial osteotomy.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Medial open-wedge high tibial osteotomy alters sagittal tibial tubercle-trochlear groove distance.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2026Article
- Increased tibial tubercle torsion is associated with advanced lateral patellofemoral osteoarthritis.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Article
- High-grade trochlear dysplasia increases patellofemoral joint pressure and decreases the knee extension torque, and tibial tubercle anteriorisation does not correct these effects: Biomechanical study in vitro.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025Article
- Measures of Patellofemoral Morphology Predict the Risk of Local Cartilage Damage Progression: A Yale/MOST Collaborative Study.The American journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Influence of Sulcus-Deepening Trochleoplasty on Patellofemoral Cartilage Integrity in Patients With Severe Trochlear Dysplasia at Short-term to Midterm Follow-up: A Case-Control Study.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Risk Factors for Atraumatic Medial Patellar Facet Lesions.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2024Article
- A decreased tibial tuberosity-trochlear groove distance is associated with lateral patellofemoral joint degeneration after implantation of medial fixed-bearing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty - a minimum five year follow-up.International orthopaedics · 2023Article
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Abstract
purposeTo evaluate the variation in tibial tubercle sagittal alignment in patients with and without patellofemoral (PF) cartilage wear.
methodsThis was a single-centre, retrospective review of patients that underwent a cartilage restoration procedure for isolated PF cartilage wear from 2014 to 2020. Patients were matched in a 1:2 ratio for age, sex and BMI to partial meniscectomy patients as controls. The sagittal TT-TG (sTT-TG) distance was measured on preoperative axial T2 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and was defined as the distance between a point at the nadir of the trochlear cartilage and the most anterior point of the tibial tubercle.
resultsOne hundred and forty patients (47 cartilage restoration, 94 meniscectomy) were included. Mean age, BMI, and height for the total cohort were 34.01 ± 8.7, 26.6 ± 6.4, and 173.0 ± 17.7 respectively, with 78 males (55%) and 63 females (45%). There were no significant differences between groups for age, BMI or sex (n.s). The cartilage restoration group (- 2.5 mm ± 5.9) was found to have a significantly more posterior (negative) sTT-TG compared to the meniscectomy group (1.72 mm ± 6.7) (p < 0.001). Interrater reliability was excellent (ICC = 0.931, p < 0.001). Patients with less than - 3.4 mm sTT-TG were 2.74 times more likely to have a cartilage restoration procedure compared to those with greater than - 3.4 mm (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.3-5.85). Patients with < - 10 mm posterior translation were 13.7× (CI 1.6-111.1) more likely to have a cartilage restoration procedure.
conclusionPatients that underwent isolated cartilage restoration procedures had a significantly more posterior tibial tubercle than partial meniscectomy controls based on the sagittal TT-TG. The more posterior the tubercle, the more likely the patient had a cartilage restoration procedure. Surgeons should consider the sTT-TG measurement in patients presenting with anterior knee pain, particularly patellofemoral lesions. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.
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