Evaluation of patellar chondromalacia and patellofemoral factors in young adult patients

Patellar chondromalacia is an important cause of anterior knee pain in young patients. Patellar chondromalacia can be demonstrated by MRI. In addition, chondromalacia can be staged according to the degree of cartilage damage. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between patellar chondromalacia and patellofemoral factors, fat pad edema and subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness and chondromalacia in young adult patients. The sample of our study consisted of patients aged 20-40 years who underwent knee MRI between August 2015 and July 2022 in our hospital. With the exclusion criteria, 78 patients were excluded from the study and a total of 299 patients were included in the study. Gender characteristics of the patient and control groups were determined. TT-TG distance, VTP, Insall-Salvati Index, Trochlear depth, Trochlear facet asymmetry and sulcus angle were measured in the patient and control groups. Subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness at the knee level was measured in both groups. Fat pad edema was investigated in the patient and control groups. Evaluation of fat pad edema was performed from fat-supressed PD images. Cartilage evaluation for patellar chondromalacia was performed on fat-supressed PD images, and chondromalacia grading was performed by observing abnormal signal, focal or diffuse thinning, fissure or full-thickness cartilage loss. When the results were evaluated; in the chondromalacia group, the mean values of TFA and TD, which are the indices evaluating trochlear dysplasia, were lower than the control group, while the mean values of SA and VTP were higher than the control averages were higher in the chondromalacia group. The presence of fat pad edema and subcutaneous knee fat tissue thickness averages were significantly higher in the chondromalacia group compared to the control group Key words: Patellar chondromalacia, patellofemoral factors, subcutaneous knee fat tissue thickness