Avoiding mismatch in allograft anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: correlation between patient height and patellar tendon length.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a correlation exists between patient height and soft-tissue patellar tendon length.
Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging (1.5 T) was performed for knee pathology on 403 patients. The patellar tendon length was measured in the midsagittal plane by a board-certified musculoskeletal radiologist. Patient height was recorded to the nearest inch. Patients were grouped into 6 subgroups with 4-inch range intervals based on height. The entire study group was analyzed. Subgroup analysis and gender analysis were performed to determine statistical significance.
Results: The mean patellar tendon length was 45 +/- 7 mm (range, 30 to 66 mm). Wide ranges were noted among each height subgroup irrespective of gender. Significant differences were noted between most height subgroups independent of gender.
Conclusions: This study showed that a correlation exists between patient height, gender, and patellar tendon length. Although variation occurs among patients of the same height, significant differences in mean patellar tendon lengths do exist between patients in different height subgroups.
Clinical Relevance: Parameters are provided using patient gender and height to reduce the potential for graft-construct mismatch when ordering bone-patellar tendon-bone allografts for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.