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The inclination of the femoral medial posterior condyle was almost vertical and that of the lateral was tilted medially

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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to three-dimensionally analyse the size and shape of the femoral posterior condyles of the normal knee.

Methods

A total of 62 healthy Japanese volunteers (37 males and 25 females) providing a sample of 124 normal knee joints, who had no knee-related symptoms and no history of major trauma, underwent computed tomography scans of the bilateral femur and tibia. Three-dimensional digital models of the femur were constructed from computed tomography data using visualisation and modelling software. The following parameters were evaluated: (1) the radii of the posterior condyles approximated to spheres and (2) the inclination angle of the posterior condyles in the coronal plane of the femoral coordinate system.

Results

The radii of the medial and lateral condyles approximated to spheres were 17.0 ± 1.6 and 17.1 ± 1.8 mm, respectively and were not different. The inclination angles of the medial and lateral condyles in the coronal plane were − 0.6° ± 4.6° and 9.7° ± 5.7°, respectively. The medial condyle was almost vertical, whereas the lateral one was medially tilted.

Conclusions

This study found an asymmetrical inclination between medial and lateral condyles. This may be related to the asymmetrical motion of the knee, which is known as medial pivot motion. This finding provides valuable morphological information and may be useful for implant designs for total knee arthroplasty.

Level of evidence

IV.

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Abbreviations

3D:

Three dimension

CT:

Computed tomography

ICC:

Intraclass correlation coefficient

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

TKA:

Total knee arthroplasty

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the entire staff of the Department of Radiology of the Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital for their technical support and cooperation.

Funding

There is no funding source.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Orthopedic Surgery, Department of Regenerative and Transplant Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Science, 1-757 Asahimachi-dori Chuo-ku, Niigata, Niigata, 951-8510, Japan

    Sho Hokari, Osamu Tanifuji, Tomoharu Mochizuki, Ryota Katsumi & Naoto Endo

  2. Department of Health Sciences, Niigata University School of Medicine, Niigata, Japan

    Koichi Kobayashi

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Niigata Medical Center, Niigata, Japan

    Takashi Sato

Authors
  1. Sho Hokari
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  2. Osamu Tanifuji
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  3. Koichi Kobayashi
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  4. Tomoharu Mochizuki
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  5. Ryota Katsumi
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  6. Takashi Sato
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  7. Naoto Endo
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Contributions

Conception and design: Dr. OT. Collection of data and analysis and interpretation of the data: Drs. SH, OT, TM, TS, RK. Technical support for the system of extremity alignment assessment system: Dr. KK. Drafting of the article: Drs. SH, OT. Final approval of the article: Drs. NE, TS, TM, KK, RK, OT. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Osamu Tanifuji.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was performed according to a protocol approved by the Investigational Review Boards of our institution (Niigata University, 2017-0006). All subjects were provided informed consent to participate in this study.

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Hokari, S., Tanifuji, O., Kobayashi, K. et al. The inclination of the femoral medial posterior condyle was almost vertical and that of the lateral was tilted medially. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 28, 3858–3864 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-020-05856-2

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