Upcoming Events
Log In
Pricing
Free Trial

Case Review: 54 Year Old Male – Assessing the Other Posterior Corner

HIDE
PrevNext

0:00

54-year-old man with a fall.

0:03

He's got a PCL tear.

0:05

The PCL is too small,

0:07

and that's because the rest of the fibers

0:09

are obscured by the edema and swelling within the PCL.

0:14

If we scroll it,

0:15

we can see some of those fibers right here that

0:18

are blending in with the surrounding soft tissues

0:21

and blood. We look inside the PCl,

0:23

and there's high sign signal within

0:26

the confines of the PCL.

0:29

And on T1 there's gray signal within the confines

0:32

of the PCL. But that's not all.

0:35

Oh, there's more.

0:36

This patient had a posteromedial corner injury.

0:39

Now we're going to show you his

0:40

posterolateral corner injury.

0:43

So let's go there to the posterolateral corner

0:46

where we ascertain the presence of a fracture and

0:50

the attachment of the lateral meniscus

0:52

to the popliteus region.

0:55

And the inferior fascicle of the

0:57

lateral meniscus is gone.

0:59

That's why the meniscus looks like it's floating

1:01

and blunted. What else is of interest to us?

1:05

Well, the popliteus tendon.

1:07

There's our papateous tendon,

1:09

and our papateous tendon should have an attachment

1:12

to the fibula called the papateofibular ligament.

1:16

What's our papateofibular ligament doing?

1:19

Well, let's draw over it.

1:21

There's the popliteus tendon.

1:22

And here is our papillateofibular ligament.

1:27

It should go to here, not down here.

1:30

It looks a little bit like a mermaid.

1:32

There's the body of the mErmaid.

1:34

There's the tail of the mErmaid.

1:36

We've got the mermaid sign of pop fib ligament,

1:40

or PFL tear,

1:42

as a component of a posterolateral corner injury.

1:46

What about the arcuate?

1:48

The arcuate is this sort of irregular,

1:51

wavy tissue right behind the Popliteus tendon.

1:54

Popliteus tendon arcuate comes

1:59

to a blunt end right there.

2:01

That's the vertical limb of the arcuate.

2:03

There's also an oblique limb that's a little

2:04

bit deeper. So we actually see the arcuate,

2:07

which you don't often get to do,

2:09

and its blunt end.

2:11

We see the popliteofibular ligament straggling

2:15

down, caudal or inferior, on the image.

2:19

Now let's go to the coronal projection.

2:22

We've already established there are at least three

2:24

components postrolaterally that are torn,

2:28

the attachment of the meniscus,

2:31

the arcuate, and the pop fib ligament.

2:35

Let's take a look at the pop fib ligament.

2:38

In the coronal projection,

2:40

there's the popliteus tendon.

2:43

It should come down and course anterior,

2:47

inferior and medial. Kind of like this pop tendon.

2:52

Then it should come down this way.

2:54

It's some fibers off obliquely towards the fibula.

2:58

Except that they're not very straight, are they?

3:01

They're kind of irregular, drawing over them.

3:03

Now let's take them away.

3:05

That's the popliteofibular ligament.

3:08

This is all injured tissue, bloody tissue.

3:12

In fact, you can hardly even see it on the T1.

3:15

weighted image. All you see there is blood.

3:18

It's completely obscured by this material.

3:20

And you see some fibrillated, crimped, irregular,

3:24

ragged fibers right there.

3:26

That is all part of the torn pop fib ligament,

3:31

or PFL.

3:32

What's right next to it?

3:35

Right next to it is the arcuate.

3:38

Better seen on the water weighted image.

3:40

The arcuate vertical limb comes up.

3:42

And it should be a straight structure.

3:44

Not one that is wavy and corrugated like

3:47

we see here. Why do we see it so well?

3:50

Because it's bloody and thick.

3:53

Normally, it'd be very hard to discern.

3:56

So we've reaffirmed in the coronal projection.

4:00

That the PFL is torn.

4:01

At least a component of the arcuate is torn.

4:04

A component of the meniscocapsular attachment is

4:07

torn. There's a posterolateral corner fracture.

4:10

You've seen the mermaid sign.

4:12

All in conjunction with our PCL.

4:14

Which puts our patient at risk.

4:17

If these were the only two findings for PLRI.

4:20

Posterolateral recurrent instability

4:23

or rotatory instability syndrome.

4:25

With all the findings of this case,

4:28

the patient is certainly a surgical candidate.

Report

Description

Faculty

Stephen J Pomeranz, MD

Chief Medical Officer, ProScan Imaging. Founder, MRI Online

ProScan Imaging

Tags

Trauma

Musculoskeletal (MSK)

MRI

Knee

© 2024 Medality. All Rights Reserved.

Contact UsTerms of UsePrivacy Policy