Can a ratio between medial and lateral meniscal volumes be calculated to determine critical meniscal volume in view of post-meniscectomy symptoms?

Partial meniscectomy is a frequently performed treatment strategy for non-suturable meniscal tears. However, the meniscal volume which can be resected without compromising the load-bearing, shock-absorbing function of the meniscus remains a topic of ongoing research. The aim of this study was to calculate the medio-lateral meniscal volume ratio to estimate this volume. In 90 patients (98 pairs of menisci) without meniscal injury, medial and lateral menisci were segmented on MRI imaging and 3D surface models were created to calculate volume. The mean medial meniscal volume was 1928,9mm3 and the mean lateral meniscal volume was 1681,7mm3. A fixed ratio of the medial over the lateral meniscal volume was calculated to be 1,16. The standard deviation of the prediction errors based on this ratio equals 217mm3. This ratio seems a useful parameter in follow-up research to determine whether there is a critical volume which can be resected without post-operative pain and osteoarthritis.