RECONSTITUTION OF THE PATELLAR TENDON DONOR SITE AFTER GRAFT HARVEST

Little is known about the fate of the donor site after the central 1/3 of the patellar tendon is harvested for anterior cruciate ligament re construction, This study evaluated the donor site in the patellar tend on at various times after a graft from the central 1/3 of the patellar tendon was harvested, Fourteen patients were studied with magnetic re sonance images taken from 6 weeks to 2 years after anterior cruciate l igament reconstruction, Axial, sagittal, and coronal views of the pate llar tendon were obtained, A second group of 8 patients who had previo us anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction were returned to the oper ating room for subsequent procedures on the affected knee, These proce dures were performed 2 to 24 months after the original reconstruction, An open biopsy was obtained from the donor site in the patellar tendo n, On magnetic resonance images, the size of the defect and the intens ity of the signal in the central 1/3 of the tendon decreased with time from surgery, At 2 years, the defect was indistinguishable from norma l tendon, Histologically, the scar in the defect progressively matured with time, becoming nearly identical to normal tendon at 2 years.