Patella alta

Last revised by Daniel MacManus on 9 Mar 2025

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Weerakkody Y, Mahsoub M, Silverstone L, et al. Patella alta. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 23 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-13055

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-13055

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/13055?embed_domain=buyreviewer.com%252525252Fbest-tire-inflator-on-amazon%252525252F

rID:

13055

Article created:

23 Feb 2011, Yuranga Weerakkody ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Yuranga Weerakkody had no recorded disclosures.

View Yuranga Weerakkody's current disclosures

Last revised:

9 Mar 2025, Daniel MacManus

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Daniel MacManus had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Daniel MacManus's current disclosures

Revisions:

28 times, by 20 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Musculoskeletal

Sections:

Gamuts

Tags:

knee

Synonyms:

High-riding patella
High riding patella

Patella alta, or a high-riding patella, describes a situation where the position of the patella is considered high. It may be idiopathic or may result secondary to a patellar tendon rupture.

Epidemiology

Associations

Several conditions are known to be associated with patella alta, including:

idiopathic retropatellar pain ⁵
patellofemoral instability
recurrent dislocation of the patella ²
chondromalacia patellae ²
knee joint effusion ²

Patella alta may also occur as a result of spastic cerebral palsy ⁶.

Radiographic features

On sagittal images, it is usually considered when the Insall-Salvati ratio is greater than 1.3-1.5 ^1-3.

On radiography, it is important that standard positioning is used, with the knee flexed at 30 degrees. An off-angle x-ray beam or non-standard positioning may result in a spuriously abnormal ratio.