Association Between Lateral Femoral Condyle Height and Depth Ratio, Medial Tibial Plateau Slope, and Isolated Posterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture.

Background: The morphological features of the femoral condyles have recently attracted attention as a potential risk factor for knee injuries. However, little is known about whether the femoral condylar morphology is related to posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury. Purpose: To investigate whether the morphological characteristics of the femoral condyle are risk factors for isolated PCL rupture. Study Design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: From the patients who visited the outpatient clinic of our hospital between 2012 and 2022, we included 78 patients with isolated PCL ruptures and 78 age- and sex-matched controls with knee injury but no structural damage evident on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The following parameters were assessed using MRI: the lateral femoral condyle and medial femoral condyle height and depth ratio (LFC-H/D, MFC-H/D), notch width index, intercondylar notch angle, the lateral tibial plateau slope, and medial tibial plateau slope (MTPS), and medial tibial depth. Values were compared between these 2 groups using the independent Results: Patients in the isolated PCL rupture group had significantly lower LFC-H/D (0.49 vs 0.52; Conclusion: A decreased LFC-H/D and a reduced MTPS were identified as risk factors for isolated PCL rupture. Sex-specific analysis further suggested that a decreased LFC-H/D was a risk factor for isolated PCL ruptures in both male and female patients, whereas a lower MTPS was a risk factor exclusively in male patients.