Variable Knee-Joint Morphology In Valgus and Non-valgus Aligned Pediatric Patients With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture
File version
Version of Record (VoR)
Author(s)
Bradford, Kylie
Bade, David
Johnson, Liam
Maine, Sheanna
Saxby, David J
Carty, Christopher P
Astori, Ivan P
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract
Background: Lower limb valgus alignment has previously been identified in pediatric patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture. This study aimed to evaluate knee morphology on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in valgus and non-valgus aligned pediatric patients with ACL rupture and compare them against a typically developed (TD) cohort without ACL rupture. Hypothesis: There would be differences in knee morphology between valgus and non-valgus aligned pediatric patients with ACL rupture and a TD cohort. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Data were extracted from the Queensland Children's Hospital prospective pediatric ACL Injury Registry. Preoperative MRI of patients with ACL rupture was compared against an age- and sex-matched TD cohort without knee pathology. The following morphological parameters were measured: lateral femoral condyle index (LFCI), lateral tibial height, medial posterior slope, lateral posterior slope (LTS), medial tibial depth, and notch width index. The mechanical axis deviation (MAD) was measured from preoperative long-leg radiographs. One-way analysis of covariance with the Tukey post-hoc test compared parameters in valgus (MAD <1 mm medial), non-valgus (MAD ≥1 mm medial), and TD groups, adjusting for age and sex. Mean differences were reported with 95% CIs. Results: A total of 150 patients with ACL rupture were eligible. After propensity score matching against the TD cohort (n = 26), the ACL rupture group (valgus, n = 26; non-valgus, n = 26) had similar baseline characteristics: combined mean age (13.97 ± 2.20 years) and sex (57.69% women vs 42.31% men). Compared with the TD cohort, valgus ACL-ruptured patients had significantly smaller LFCI (–0.16 [95% CI, –0.20 to −0.11]) and larger LTS (2.53 [95% CI, 0.50 to 4.56]) values. Valgus-aligned patients with ACL rupture had smaller LFCIs compared with non-valgus-aligned patients with ACL rupture (–0.12 [95% CI, 0.17 to −0.08]). Conclusion: Compared with a TD cohort, morphological variations were found within subsets of pediatric patients with ACL rupture when accounting for lower limb alignment. Valgus-aligned patients had smaller LFCI and steeper LTS values than the TD cohort.
Journal Title
Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
13
Issue
9
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Item Access Status
Note
This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advance online version.
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
Clinical sciences
Sports science and exercise
Persistent link to this record
Citation
Seeto, AH; Bradford, K; Bade, D; Johnson, L; Maine, S; Saxby, DJ; Carty, CP; Astori, IP, Variable Knee-Joint Morphology In Valgus and Non-valgus Aligned Pediatric Patients With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture, Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2025, 13 (9)