Association of Mucoid Degeneration of the ACL with Medial Tibiofemoral Osteoarthritis Progression at MR Imaging

Abstract

Using MRI, ACL mucoid degeneration is defined as a thickened ACL with increased signal intensity on all MR pulse sequences, with discrete fibers easily distinguished on fat-saturated T2-weighted or fat-saturated proton-density (PD)-weighted images but poorly differentiated on T1-weighted or non-fat-saturated PD-weighted images. Despite several reports on the imaging appearance of ACL mucoid degeneration, it is still a poorly understood entity in terms of its prevalence, etiology, and association with other structural damage in the knee joint. ACL mucoid degeneration may be a precursor of knee OA but it could also be part of a general degenerative process of the knee.