Faculty Bibliography

This review offers a comprehensive discussion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the assessment of rotator cuff tendon repair and joint-preserving surgical options for patients with irreparable rotator cuff tears. Deciding to proceed with arthroscopic repair of a rotator cuff tendon tear is impacted both by clinical factors and morphological imaging features. Preoperative clinical and imaging features also predict the likelihood of success of a rotator cuff tendon repair and are important to recognize. In patients with irreparable rotator cuff tears and relatively preserved glenohumeral cartilage, various joint-preserving surgical options are available and seen increasingly in clinical practice.The acceptable range of postoperative imaging findings correlating with a functionally intact rotator cuff repaired tendon, and MRI findings that are either suggestive of or definitive for rotator cuff tendon repair failure are discussed in detail, with attention to the Sugaya classification. Ancillary features, such as progressive retraction of the myotendinous junction and the degree of muscle fatty atrophy, can be used as problem-solving tools in cases equivocal for rotator cuff retear. Finally, this review discusses in detail the most common joint-preserving treatment options for patients with irreparable rotator cuff tears, including an in-depth focus on superior capsular reconstruction.

This study aimed to develop and evaluate a novel magnetization-prepared, ultra-short echo time (UTE)-capable, stack-of-spirals sequence (STFL) to quantify monoexponential and biexponential T_1ρ maps of the whole knee joint, addressing limitations of existing MRI techniques in assessing bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) donor site healing and graft remodeling after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR). Experiments were performed with agar-gel model phantoms, seven healthy volunteers (four males, average age 31.4 years old), and five ACLR patients (three males, average age 28.2 years old). Compared with a conventional Cartesian turbo fast low angle shot (CTFL) sequence, the STFL sequence demonstrated an improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), increasing from 16.5 for CTFL to 21.7 for STFL. In ACLR patients, the STFL sequence accurately detected increased fractions of short T_1ρ components within the ACL graft, rising from 0.15 to 0.38, compared with 0.11 to 0.18 with CTFL. Furthermore, the STFL sequence revealed significant decreases in the fraction of short T_1ρ components in the patellar tendon of ACLR patients (from 0.6 to 0.47) compared with healthy controls, whereas no significant changes were observed with the CTFL sequence. These findings suggest that the STFL sequence holds promise for noninvasive assessment of BPTB donor site healing and graft maturation following ACLR.

BACKGROUND/UNASSIGNED:Mountain biking (MTB) is a quickly growing sport, with many athletes sustaining high-impact injuries. Current literature has not analyzed the most recent MTB-related national emergency department (ED) injury data. HYPOTHESIS/UNASSIGNED:It was hypothesized that (1) the total number of injuries presenting to US EDs would significantly increase over the study period, (2) male patients would experience higher rates of shoulder injuries and airborne injury mechanisms than female patients, and (3) youths would present more frequently with injuries of the head and face than adults. STUDY DESIGN/UNASSIGNED:Descriptive epidemiology study. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:All data were extracted from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), a public database representing approximately 100 US EDs. The NEISS was queried for MTB-related injuries between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2022. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:< .001) than male patients. Children presented with higher rates of head/face injuries (34.1%), concussions (6.0%), and airborne mechanisms of injury (19.4%) than any other age group. CONCLUSION/UNASSIGNED:MTB injuries increased significantly between 2013 and 2022 likely because of the popularity of outdoor sports during COVID-19. The upper extremity was the most frequently injured body region, and falling off the bike was the most common mechanism. Leading injuries and mechanisms varied significantly by sex and age. This study recommends additional MTB safety measures such as shoulder support for male riders, better coaching on front brake control for youth riders, and an increased emphasis on concussion protocols for female riders.

BACKGROUND/UNASSIGNED:Traditional freehand techniques in high tibial osteotomy (HTO) have been shown to lack precision and accuracy. Patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) and fixation created from cross-sectional imaging have recently been introduced to address this problem. PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS/UNASSIGNED:The purpose of the study was to compare traditional freehand techniques versus PSI in a human cadaveric model of HTO. It was hypothesized that the osteotomies performed using PSI would require less radiation exposure for operating room staff and would reduce deviation from the planned correction in the coronal, sagittal, and axial planes. STUDY DESIGN/UNASSIGNED:Controlled laboratory study. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:Sixteen matched cadaveric knees underwent medial opening-wedge HTO via the freehand method (n = 8) or PSI technique (n = 8) with a predetermined planned opening-wedge size. Computed tomography was used to measure the achieved wedge size as well as alignment parameters in the coronal, sagittal, and axial planes. Radiation dose, number of fluoroscopic images taken, and total operative time were recorded. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:= .62). CONCLUSION/UNASSIGNED:In cadaveric specimens, the PSI technique demonstrated superior accuracy and decreased radiation exposure for medical staff compared with the traditional freehand technique without compromising operative efficiency. CLINICAL RELEVANCE/UNASSIGNED:The use of PSI when HTO is performed can lead to more accurate operations and potentially improve outcomes.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:To describe the medial-sided pathoanatomy and ligament injuries in acute MLKIs with medial-sided involvement andlook forassociated injury patterns based upon location of ligamentous injury. METHODS:Patients who underwent treatment for MLKI at two level-1 trauma centers were identified between January 2001 and May 2023. Only cases involvingcomplete disruption of the superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL) were included. Zone of injury to the sMCL, the posterior oblique ligament (POL), the medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL), the vastus medialis oblique (VMO) was recorded, as well as demographics,injury details, neurovascular status, and mechanism of injury.Data was summarized usingdescriptive statistics. RESULTS:A total of 92 patientswere included, with a mean age of 37.8 ± 12.7 years. Forty-four (47.8%) patients had a high velocity injury. Within sMCL tears, 39% were proximal avulsions, 29% were midsubstance tears, and 32% were distal avulsions. The medial-sided injury patterns were: 31 (33.7%) isolated sMCL tears, 24 (27.3%) combined sMCL, POL, and MPFL tears, 23 (25%) combined sMCL and MPFL tears, and 11 (12%) combined sMCL and POL tears. Most common location of sMCL injury varied based upon the number of associated medial knee ligaments injured: isolated sMCL (even distribution), sMCL & POL (distal), sMCL-MPFL (proximal), sMCL-POL-MPFL (proximal). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Medial-sided ligament injuries seen MLKIs were found to occur in four injury patterns ranging from isolated sMCL or combined injury patterns of the adjacent medial structures. Additionally, location of sMCL injury varied based upon the number of medial-sided ligaments injured.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study is to assess the association between sagittal tibial tuberosity-trochlear groove (sTT-TG) distance and patellofemoral chondral lesion size in patients undergoing cartilage restoration procedures. METHODS:A retrospective cohort analysis of patients who underwent an osteochondral allograft transplantation or matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation in the patellofemoral compartment, from 2010 to 2020, were included if they had patellofemoral high-grade lesions, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and minimum 2-year follow-up. The preoperative sTT-TG distance was measured independently on axial T2-weighted MRI sequences by two authors, each at least two weeks apart. Intraoperative lesion size was reported according to operative report measurements by the attending surgeon. An interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated to assess intra- and inter-rater reliability, and categorical data analysis and linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between sTT-TG and lesion size. RESULTS:. Intra- (ICC: 0.99,0.98) and inter-rater reliability (ICC: 0.96) were excellent for both MRI defect size and sTT-TG measurements. The mean sTT-TG was -4.8 ± 4.9 mm and was significantly inversely related to MRI defect size (-0.45, p < 0.01), intraoperative patellar lesion size (-0.32, p = 0.01), total lesion area (-0.22, p = 0.04), but not trochlear lesion size (-0.09, p = 0.56). Multivariable regression demonstrated a more negative sTT-TG remained an independent variable correlated with larger MRI-measured patellofemoral defect sizes and intraoperative patellar lesions. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:A more negative sTT-TG was an independent variable correlated with larger patellofemoral lesions in patients undergoing patellofemoral cartilage restoration. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE/METHODS:Level III, Diagnostic.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:There is limited clinical outcome data comparing fixation methods for tenodesis of the long head of the biceps tendon (LHBT), particularly button fixation. The purpose of this study was to compare clinical outcomes, patient-reported outcomes, and return to sport (RTS) between patients undergoing LHBT with bicortical versus unicortical button technique. The authors hypothesized these fixation methods would be similar for all outcomes. METHODS:Patients who underwent LHBT using unicortical or bicortical button fixation with minimum 2-year follow-up were identified. Postoperative outcomes were evaluated using the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) questionnaire and visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score. A sports activity survey was collected to assess baseline sport participation and ability to return to pre-injury activities. Continuous variables were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney-U test. Categorical variables were analyzed using Chi-squared tests. Multivariable logistic and linear regression were performed to determine predictors of RTS and time to RTS. RESULTS:Sixty-four subjects (19 unicortical and 45 bicortical button fixation) were included (average follow-up 3.5 (range: 2.0-7.8) years). There were no significant differences found between button groups for VAS pain score (1.5 vs. 1.2; p = 0.876), VAS pain during sport score (1.6 vs. 1.1, p = 0.398), and ASES score (66 vs. 71; p = 0.294). There were no significant differences in rate of RTS (75.0 vs. 77.4%; p = 0.885) or average time to return to sport (11.7 ± 7.3 vs. 7.0 ± 4.0 months; p = 0.081) between groups. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes, pain, or return to sport between patients who underwent LHBT with unicortical or bicortical button fixation.

PURPOSE/UNASSIGNED:To systematically review the literature regarding machine learning in leg length discrepancy (LLD) and to provide insight into the most relevant manuscripts on this topic in order to highlight the importance and future clinical implications of machine learning in the diagnosis and treatment of LLD. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:A systematic electronic search was conducted using PubMed, OVID/Medline and Cochrane libraries in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Two observers independently screened the abstracts and titles of potential articles. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:A total of six studies were identified in the search. All measurements were calculated using standardized anterior-posterior long-leg radiographs. Five (83.3%) of the studies used measurements of the femoral length, tibial length and leg length to assess LLD, whereas one (16.6%) study used the iliac crest height difference to quantify LLD. The deep learning models showed excellent reliability in predicting all length measurements with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.98 to 1.0 and mean absolute error (MAE) values ranging from 0.11 to 0.45 cm. Three studies reported measurements of LLD, and the convolutional neural network model showed the lowest MAE of 0.13 cm in predicting LLD. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:Machine learning models are effective and efficient in determining LLD. Implementation of these models may reduce cost, improve efficiency and lead to better overall patient outcomes. CLINICAL RELEVANCE/UNASSIGNED:This review highlights the potential of deep learning (DL) algorithms for accurate and reliable measurement of lower limb length and leg length discrepancy (LLD) on long-leg radiographs. The reported mean absolute error and intraclass correlation coefficient values indicate that the performance of the DL models was comparable to that of radiologists, suggesting that DL-based assessments could potentially be used to automate the measurement of lower limb length and LLD in clinical practice. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE/UNASSIGNED:Level IV.

It is important to highlight the use of patient-specific cutting guides for knee joint osteotomies. Rationale, pitfalls, and planning of conventional osteotomy techniques are examined. The benefits of using patient-specific guides focusing on the potential for improved accuracy, efficiency, and safety are reviewed. The versatility of guides to manipulate the slope in both the coronal and sagittal planes, as well as its ability to accommodate concomitant procedures, is discussed. The time and cost differentials between standard cutting guides and three-dimensional-guided templating are also discussed.