Middle patellar tendon to posterior cruciate ligament (PT–PCL) and normalized PT–PCL: New magnetic resonance indices for tibial tubercle position in patients with patellar instability

BACKGROUND To demonstrate whether the distance between the middle point of the patellar tendon and posterior cruciate ligament (PT-PCL) calculated on a single axial MR image could be an alternative measure to tibial tubercle-PCL (TT-PCL) distance for TT lateralization without the need of imaging processing. To show that normalization of PT-PCL (nPT-PCL) against the maximum diameter of the tibial plateau may help to identify patients with patellar instability (PI). METHODS MR scans of 30 patients (13 females, age 32 ± 13 years) with known PI and 60 patients (31 females, age 39 ± 19 years) with no history of PI were reviewed. Two operators calculated TT-PCL, and PT-PCL nPT-PCL. Intraclass cor…