Ultrasonography assessment of femoral cartilage thickness deformation acutely following drop landings

Undergraduates: Leslie Sierra-Arevalo, Matthew Harkey

Faculty Advisor: Brian Pietrosimone
Department: Exercise & Sport Science

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Femoral cartilage deformation following acute loading is dependent on cartilage composition. This study was conducted to determine the magnitude of medial, lateral and intercondylar femoral cartilage thickness deformation following drop landings using diagnostic ultrasonography (US) in healthy individuals. 35 healthy volunteers with no history of knee injuries participated in this study. Medial, lateral and intercondylar femoral cartilage thickness was measured using US imaging before and after drop landings. Each participant completed 120 drop landings from a 62 centimeter box within approximately 45 minutes. Cartilage deformation was calculated as the percent change in thickness from pre to post drop landings in each compartment. Separate independent t-tests were used to compare pre and post thickness measurements. There was a significant deformation in cartilage thickness in the medial (P<0.001, pre=2.39mm, post=2.19mm, %¿¿¿=-8.4%) and lateral (P<0.001, pre=2.31mm, post=2.16mm, %¿¿¿=-6.5%) compartments of the knee when comparing pre and post drop landing thickness values, but the intercondylar compartment deformation was not statistically significant (P= 0.135, pre=2.30mm, post=2.25mm, %¿¿¿=-2.2%). This study demonstrates how healthy cartilage deforms following a high magnitude loading task such as drop landings, which may allow for future studies to identify individuals who respond negatively to loading which may indicate early decline of cartilage health.