Deep lateral femoral notch sign - Orthopaedia

Location	Knee
Diagnosis	ACL tear
Discussion	The deep lateral femoral notch (sulcus) sign is used as a secondary sign of ACL tear. The increased depth of the lateral femoral sulcus in patients with an ACL tear is due to impacted fracture, similar to a Hill-Sachs lesion of the humerus. This impaction occurs when the tibia becomes displaced anteriorly and the lateral femoral sulcus pushes against the posterior rim of the tibial plateau, causing an indentation in the femoral condyle. It is measured by drawing a line drawn tangential to the articular surface of the femoral condyle. This line is used as a reference and the depth of the sulcus is measured perpendicular to this line. Abnormally increased depth is known as the deep lateral femoral notch (sulcus).
Reference	Jones AR, Finlay DB, Learmonth DJ: A deep lateral femoral notch as a sign of acutely torn anterior cruciate ligament. Injury 1993 Oct;24(9):601-2. Cobby MJ, Schweitzer ME, Resnick D: The deep lateral femoral notch: an indirect sign of a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Radiology 1992 Sep;184(3):855-8.

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