Evaluation of Meniscus Tears and Associated Conditions using Magnetic Resonance Imaging without Contrast Agent: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background: Meniscus tears are a common knee joint disease. MRI is considered the gold standard for diagnosing knee joint pathology. This study aimed to evaluate meniscus tears and associated conditions using multiplanar MRI. Methods and Results: A retrospective cross-section study was conducted at King Salman Medical City and involved 115 patients (81 males and 34 females) aged between 10 and 60 years diagnosed with meniscus tears by multiplanar MRI. The research findings indicated that individuals between the ages of 31 and 40, as well as those aged 21-30 and 51-60 years, were the most affected by meniscal tears. Furthermore, males displayed a greater vulnerability to meniscal tears than females, with approximately 70.4% of cases. The research findings indicated that the medial meniscus was the most prominently affected, accounting for 63.5% of cases, followed by the lateral meniscus (26.1%) and bilateral involvement (23.5%). Among the affected menisci, over half (56.6%) of the cases exhibited transverse tears, while radial and longitudinal tears were less prevalent. Furthermore, complete tears were more prevalent than partial tears, accounting for 68.7% of cases. Most patients were affected by Grade 1 tears, constituting 62.6% of the total sample. The most frequently concomitant feature with meniscus tears was joint effusion (37.4%), followed by osteoarthritis (17.4%) and anterior cruciate ligament tears (15.7%). There was a significant association between the transverse type of meniscal tears and joint effusion (P=0.047). Conclusion: The research findings imply that, in some clinical situations, MRI without contrast can be a useful and trustworthy method for identifying meniscus tears.

Keywords

• meniscus tear
• joint effusion
• anterior cruciate ligament
• osteoarthritis