A new technique of surgical planning for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction Feasibility Assessment of Shear Wave Elastography to Tendon of Semitendinosus Muscle

• Published in: Clinical anatomy (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 404 - 408
• Main Authors: Itoigawa, Yoshiaki, Takazawa, Yuji, Maruyama, Yuichiro, Yoshida, Keiichi, Sakai, Tatsuo, Ichimura, Koichiro, Kaneko, Kazuo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.04.2018
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction; Elasticity Imaging Techniques; Feasibility Studies; Female; Hamstring Tendons - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Male; Transplants - diagnostic imaging; ultrasound imaging; anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction; elastography; semitendinosus tendon
• DOI: 10.1002/ca.23000
• ISSN: 0897-3806; 1098-2353

There is currently no method to quantify the quality of the harvested graft before anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to explore a method for measuring stiffness of the normal tendon of the semitendinosus muscle using shear wave elastography (SWE). Our investigation comprised two steps. First, we determined orientation of the semitendinosus tendon fibers in 20 lower legs of embalmed cadavers. Second, we investigated the feasibility of quantifying stiffness of the normal semitendinosus tendon by SWE in 24 subjects (48 legs: 24 male and 24 female subjects) in vivo. Measured values were compared between male and female subjects. The point at the intersection of the semitendinosus tendon with the axial section through the center of the patella mostly was the middle of the semitendinosus tendon in the cadavers. The SWE modulus in all of the subjects could be measured on this point in vivo. The SWE modulus of males and females were 474.0 ± 71.9 kPa and 396.9 ± 104.5 kPa, respectively. The SWE modulus of males was significantly larger than that of females ( P  < 0.01). This study demonstrates that stiffness of the tendon of the semitendinosus muscle can be measured by SWE. It also shows that tendon of the semitendinosus muscle in males is stiffer than in females. Clin. Anat. 31:404–408, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.