Objective: To describe the magnetic resonance (MR) appearance of intact posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) grafts.
Materials and methods: Thirty-one postoperative MR examinations were performed in 21 grafts of 20 patients after PCL reconstruction. All 21 grafts were proven to be intact on second-look arthroscopic examination. Two musculoskeletal radiologists retrospectively analyzed the MR findings and reached decisions by consensus. The signal intensity (SI) of the graft on proton density-weighted and T2-weighted images, as well as the shapes, locations, and segments of increased SI were recorded. The graft thickness was also recorded and correlated to elapsed time since reconstructive surgery.
Results: The SI of the graft was high (15/31, 48%), intermediate (10/31, 32%), or low (6/31, 19%) on proton density-weighted images, and high (9/31, 29%), intermediate (6/31, 19%), or low (16/31, 52%) on T2-weighted images. The graft SI decreased significantly as postoperative time elapsed. The shape of the increased SI within the grafts was band-like (14/25, 56%) or focal (11/25, 44%). The increased SI was located in the proximal (18/25, 72%), middle (21/25, 82%), and distal (12/25, 48%) segments. In the axial plane, the location of increased SI was intrasubstance (19/25, 76%) or peripheral (10/25, 40%). A 'focal' shape of increased SI was found significantly more in Achilles tendon allografts, while a band-like shape was more frequent in autogenous double-loop hamstring tendon grafts. Graft thickness ranged from 5-15 mm. The difference in graft thickness relative to postoperative time was not statistically significant (p = 0.79).
Conclusion: Stable PCL grafts commonly showed an increased SI at any segment or location, even though they were stable. The shape of increased SI differed according to allograft donor sites. However, SI tended to decrease as time elapsed.