BACKGROUND The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) plays an important role in maintaining physiological kinematics and function of the knee joint. To date mainly in-vitro models or combined magnetic resonance and fluoroscopic systems have been used for quantifying the importance of the PCL. We hypothesized, that both tibiofemoral and patellofemoral kinematic patterns are changed in PCL-deficient ...

In the commonly used SIMM software, which includes a complete musculoskeletal model of the lower limbs, the reaction forces at the knee are computed. These reaction forces represent the bone-on-bone contact forces and the soft tissue forces (e.g. ligaments) other than muscles acting at the joint. In the knee model integrated into this software, a patellotibial joint rather than a patellofemoral...

Exercise is beneficial for women of all ages and is associated with long-term health benefits and enhanced well-being. Nevertheless, active women and girls are at risk for conditions resulting from sports and exercise participation. Because of their unique physiology, children are more susceptible to heat illness than adolescents and younger adults. Childhood sports injuries tend to involve the...

The diarthrodial, knee joint is a remarkably efficient bearing system; articulating cartilage surfaces provide nearly frictionless performance with minimal wear. The low friction properties of the cartilage surfaces are due in part to the boundary lubricant, superficial zone protein (SZP); also known as lubricin or proteoglycan 4 (PRG4). In previous work, SZP localization and cartilage friction...

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury is one of the most frequent injury type in individuals who participate in pivoting sports, with an annual incidence of more than 200,000 cases according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (2007).This has motivated numerous studies on risk factors and prevention strategies (see Griffin et al., 2000 for review), as well as on ACL reconstruction...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between chronicity of patellar instability on the prevalence, grade, and location of chondral lesions in patients with recurrent patellar instability. Patellofemoral chondral status was documented and graded according to the Outerbridge classification in 38 patients who underwent arthroscopic examination at the time of a medial patell...