STRESS RADIOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT DEFICIENCY

A prospective study was carried out to test the sensitivity and specif icity of stress radiography in detecting anterior cruciate ligament de ficiency in both knees of 116 patients using the Telos device. lit 47 of these a total or partial rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament was diagnosed by arthroscopy, while the ligament was intact in the rem aining 69 patients. The mean difference in radiological translation be tween the injured and the normal knee was greater than 5 mm (p <0.001) in those with anterior cruciate deficiency, and less than 3 mm in the others. A differential displacement of lip to 3 mm was considered nor mal. The sensitivity of the method was less than 67% and the specifici ty was 100%. Clinical diagnosis had a sensitivity of 70.2% and a speci ficity of 98.5%. Our findings suggest that, although a differential tr anslation of more than 3 mm can be diagnostic, smaller differences do not rule out anterior cruciate deficiency.