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Correlation between clinical tibiofemoral angle and body mass index in normal Nigerian children

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Abstract

Purpose

The tibiofemoral angle (TFA) is a reliable tool for determining lower-limb axial alignment and defining the degree of deformity in pathologic angular malalignment of the knee in children.

Methods

We clinically examined 471 normal Nigerian elementary school children whose ages ranged from three to ten years to determine the clinical tibiofemoral angle and to establish its relationship with body mass index (BMI).

Results

We found maximum knee valgus of 7.87° at three years, decreasing to 1° at ten years. We also found significant negative correlation between the tibiofemoral angle and BMI. All children examined had weights between the 5th and 85th percentile for age and sex.

Conclusion

We conclude that in normal healthy-weight children, BMI does not cause an increase in tibiofemoral angle.

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Acknowledgement

We are grateful to Ofure Atamemwan for her help in the preparation of this manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics & Trauma, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin, Nigeria

    Anirejuoritse Bafor, Blessing Omota & Alfred O. Ogbemudia

Authors
  1. Anirejuoritse Bafor
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  2. Blessing Omota
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  3. Alfred O. Ogbemudia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anirejuoritse Bafor.

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Bafor, A., Omota, B. & Ogbemudia, A.O. Correlation between clinical tibiofemoral angle and body mass index in normal Nigerian children. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 36, 1247–1253 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-011-1451-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-011-1451-z

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