Novel measurement technique of the tibial slope on conventional MRI

The posterior inclination of the tibial plateau, which is referred to as posterior tibial slope, is determined routinely on lateral radiographs. However, radiographically, it is not always possible to reliably recognize the lateral plateau, making a separate assessment of the medial and lateral plateaus difficult. We propose a technique to measure the plateaus separately by defining a tibial longitudinal axis on a conventional MRI. The medial plateau posterior tibial slope obtained from radiographs was compared with MR images in 100 consecutive patients with knee pain when ligament or meniscal injury was assumed. The posterior tibial slope on MRI correlated with those on radiographs. The mean posterior tibial slope was 3.4 degrees smaller on MRI compared with radiographs (4.8 degrees +/- 2.4 degrees versus 8.2 degrees +/- 2.8 degrees , respectively). The reproducibility was slightly better on radiographs than MRI (+/- 0.9 degrees versus +/- 1.4 degrees ). Twenty-one of the 100 cases had more than a 5 degrees difference (range, -8.7 degrees to 8.9 degrees ) between the medial and lateral plateaus. The proposed technique allows measurement of the posterior tibial slope of the medial and lateral plateaus on a standard knee MRI. By using this novel measurement technique, a reliable assessment of the medial and lateral tibial plateaus is possible.

Level III, diagnostic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.