Estimating Lengths of Semitendinosus and Gracilis Tendons by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

PURPOSE: To determine whether preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can help predict the tendon-only length of the semitendinosus (ST) and the gracilis (G). METHODS: The distance from the tibial insertion to the distal-most aspect of the musculotendinous junction (MTJ) of the ST and G was estimated on preoperative MRI scans of patients undergoing primary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with single-bundle, quadruple-stranded hamstring autograft. This MRI tendon-only length, measured by a musculoskeletal radiologist blinded to surgical findings, was compared to the actual tendon-only length measured upon harvesting each tendon. RESULTS: Among the 42 patients comprising the study population, there was very strong correlation between the estimates of tendon-only length made by MRI and surgical measurements for both the ST (Spearman coefficient = 0.83; P < .0001) and the G (Spearman coefficient = 0.82; P < .0001). The difference between MRI and surgical measurements did not exceed 3 cm for any of the 84 harvested hamstring tendons. Bland-Altman plots confirmed agreement between the 2 measurement methods. There was also strong correlation between the surgically measured tendon-only length of the ST and its G counterpart (Spearman coefficient = 0.68; P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: MRI estimates of tendon-only length for both the ST and G very strongly correlate with operative measurements of these lengths; the discrepancy between these 2 measurement methods was found to not exceed 3 cm when the MTJ of these tendons is visible on MRI scans. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, comparative study.