DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING IN ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT TEAR TAKING ARTHROSCOPY AS GOLD STANDARD
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52764/jms.26.34.1.1Keywords:
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Arthroscopy, Diagnostic Accuracy, Sensitivity and Specificity, Knee Joint, Ligament Tears, Imaging Techniques, Orthopaedic Assessment, Predictive Value of Tests.Abstract
Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in detecting anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, using arthroscopy as the gold standard.
Material And Methods: We conducted this cross-sectional validation study in the Orthopedics Department at Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar. A total of 296 patients were enrolled. All participants underwent knee MRI and were compared with arthroscopic findings, which served as the reference standard. Diagnostic parameters and overall accuracy were calculated.
Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 25.
Results: Of the 296 patients, MRI detected ACL tears in 172 (58.1%) cases, while arthroscopy confirmed tears in 197 (66.6%) cases. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of MRI were 70.1%, 65.7%, 80.1%, and 52.4%, respectively, with an overall diagnostic accuracy of 68%. A statistically significant association was observed between MRI and arthroscopy findings (p< 0.01). The ROC curve demonstrated fair discriminative ability of MRI.
Conclusion: MRI exhibits moderate diagnostic accuracy in detecting ACL tears, with a reliable predictive value when results are positive. However, its limited sensitivity and specificity in this context highlight the need for cautious interpretation, especially in MRI-negative cases. Arthroscopy remains the definitive diagnostic tool, particularly for ambiguous or complex injuries.
Keywords: Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Arthroscopy
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Copyright (c) 2026 Waqar Ali, Syed Dilbagh Ali Shah, Luqman Khan, Aftab Ali, Muhammad Maaz Raza, Zeeshan Khan, Safeer Ullah, Rao Erbaz Hassan
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