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Advances in Motion

AAOS 2023: Dr. Miho Tanaka Presents Femoral Tunnel Research

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Originally published in Healio

In This Article

  • Miho J. Tanaka, MD, PhD, and colleagues evaluated the radiographic landmarks for femoral attachment of the medial patellofemoral complex (MPFC) in cadaveric knees on lateral radiographs, extending each radiograph by 1 cm
  • Because the slope of the posterior cortex extends posteriorly as it gets closer to the knee, measurements of the radiographic landmarks indicating optimal femoral tunnel position tended to be inaccurate if less than 4 cm of the cortex was visible
  • Results suggested that obtaining a larger field of view in radiographs during MPFC reconstruction can help ensure accurate landmarks for anatomic graft placement

At the 2023 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Miho Tanaka, MD, PhD, director of the Women's Sports Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School, discussed her research on optimizing medial patellofemoral complex (MPFC) reconstruction in a short video recorded during Sports Medicine Specialty Day.

She shared with Healio, "In the largest view, we had 8 cm of the posterior cortex visible. And in the smallest view, we had only 1 cm visible."

Because the slope of the posterior cortex extends posteriorly as it gets closer to the knee, Dr. Tanaka said radiographic landmarks for optimal femoral tunnel position tended to be inaccurate if less than 4 cm of the posterior cortex was visible.

"Surgeons who use radiographs intraoperatively during MPFC reconstruction should be aware that, if you have less than 4 cm of visible posterior cortical length, the landmarks identifying optimal femoral tunnel position on the knee may not be accurate. Obtaining a larger field of view can help ensure accurate landmarks for anatomic graft placement," Dr. Tanaka said.

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