Age dependent morphological changes of the normal meniscus in children based on large scale MRI analysis

To systematically quantify the morphological characteristics of normal meniscus in children and establish age-specific reference data to support accurate diagnosis and surgical decision-making for pediatric meniscal disorders. This retrospective study analyzed knee images of 877 children who underwent 3.0T plain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The researchers categorized participants into four age groups: Group A (≤ 5 years), Group B (5 < age ≤ 10 years), Group C (10 < age ≤ 15 years), and Group D (15 < age ≤ 18 years) and randomly selected fifty children from each group for detailed morphological analysis. Measurements on coronal images included the width and thickness of the meniscal body, the width and height of the tibial intercondylar ridge, and the width of the tibial plateau. Measurements on sagittal images assessed the width and thickness of the anterior and posterior meniscal horns, along with the sagittal diameter of the meniscus. Morphological parameters across the four age groups were compared to evaluate developmental trends. This study collected and analyzed the morphological parameters of the normal meniscus in children across four age groups, including measurements of the anterior horn, body, and posterior horn, as well as the tibial plateau and tibial intercondylar ridge. The results showed that, except for the lateral meniscal anterior horn thickness (P = 0.223), nearly all measurements in Group B were significantly greater than those in Group A (P < 0.05). Similarly, most parameters in Group C were higher than those in Group B, except tibial intercondylar ridge width, which showed no significant difference (P = 0.988). When comparing Group C and Group D, most measurements showed no significant difference (P > 0.05); however, specific parameters were unexpectedly greater in Group C than in Group D, including the lateral meniscal anterior horn width, medial meniscal anterior horn width, medial meniscal body width, and medial meniscal posterior horn width (P < 0.05).In children aged 0 to 15 years, the meniscus demonstrates a progressive increase in size, reflecting normal growth and development. However, after age 15, this growth plateaus, and certain regions of the meniscus exhibit a slight reduction in size.