Four hundred and fifty patients (840 knees) underwent axial computed
tomography of the knee in a prospective study to evaluate the ability of
this technique to identify and characterize meniscal tears. One hundred and
thirty-three of the knees subsequently had diagnostic arthroscopy. When
compared with the findings at arthroscopy, the sensitivity of computed
tomography was 96.5 per cent, the specificity was 81.3 per cent, and the
accuracy was 91.0 per cent. The precise protocol for the method of computed
tomographic scanning that was employed and the criteria that were used to
interpret the images are presented. We found computed tomography to be a
valuable non-invasive method for the detection and characterization of
meniscal tears.