Synovial plicae are remnant of the three compartments of the knee during fetal development around 8 week [1][2]. The medial plica courses coronaly on the medial wall of the joint capsule and insert distally on the infrapatellar fat pad (Fig.1). Medial plica is found in 24% of cadaver in autopsic study, whereas the frequency is 72% in arthroscopic study [3][4]. Medial plica is also called plica synovialis patellaris, Iino band, plica alaris, synovial shelf, or patellar meniscus [5]. This synovial fold is usually non symptomatic....

Study population The institutional review board approved this retrospective study, and the requirement to obtain informed consent was waived. 19 teenagers suspect of medial plica syndrome underwent MRI of the knee and arthroscopy, which confirmed a pathologic medial plica (Sakakibara C or D) with resection of this plica (Fig. 2). We established a control group with 25 patients who underwent knee MRI and arthroscopy for another reason, without medial plica identified. All the arthroscopy have been performed at Amiens University Medical Center by pediatric surgeons,...

Clinical Data The mean age was 14,2 years for the study group (15 females and 4 males; range age: 8-20) and 15,3 years for the control group (15 females and 10 males; range age: 10-18). There had no significant difference for age (p=0,08) and gender (p=0,45) (Table 1). The medial plica syndrome predominantly affected females (Sexe Ratio=3,75). 4 patients presented a bilateral plica syndrome at different times (21%), supposing a genetic predisposition. We found 27 medial plica among the 44 MRI reviewed, performing a prevalence...

Our study demonstrates the poor contribution of MRI for the diagnosis of a medial plica syndrome. In particular, the criteria usually described in the literature, such as a thick long and hypo intense band that covers the anterior surface of the medial femoral condyle are not associated with a medio patellar syndrome. These results are in according with Boles and al who did not find MR characteristics (width, thickness, relation to the trochlear cartilage, and effusion) significantly predictive of resection [10]. Monabang and al found...

Author : Raphael Benchimol Radiology Resident, Amiens University Medical Center mail: [email protected]

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