SPECT IMAGING IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF MENISCAL TEARS

Sixty patients scheduled for arthroscopy of a knee because of suspecte d meniscal tears had preoperative planar and single photon emission co mputed tomography (SPECT) radionuclide scans. A crescentic pattern of uptake on the SPECT transaxial view was used as a criterion for diagno sing a tear of a meniscus. The sensitivity of the investigation was 77 %, specificity 74%, negative predictive value (NPV) 65%, positive pred ictive value (PPV) 83%, and accuracy 76%. Tears of the posterior horn of the cartilage were also associated with intense focal uptake on the transaxial view as well as increased equilibrium activity in the adja cent femoral condyle. When these appearances were included as addition al criteria the sensitivity rose to 90%, NPV 81%, and accuracy 84%. Th is study confirms the usefulness of SPECT imaging in identifying menis cal tears.