Extract
To The Reader:The article "Clinical Outcome at a Minimum of Five Years After
Reconstruction of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament"
(2005;87:1673-9), by Spindler
et al., presents the relative long-term outcome of a series of patients who
had anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction that was assessed solely by
clinical outcome as measured with validated questionnaires. No objective
assessments of the patients were presented. In his accompanying editorial,
"Are Validated Questionnaires Valid?"
(2005;87:1671-2), Dr. Zarins,
Consulting Editor for Sports Medicine, expressed concern about the lack of
objective measures and the complete reliance on outcome measurements to make a
clinical decision regarding knee ligament reconstruction. That editorial
sparked several letters, which are provided below, along with Dr. Zarins'
response to one of them.