Radiological joint space width in the clinically normal hips of a Korean population

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the association of the joint space width (JSW) of the hip with radiologically observed hip deformity, the anthropological features and aging in a clinically asymptomatic Korean population.

428 consecutive patients who were without clinical evidence of hip osteoarthritis (OA) and who underwent supine anteroposterior (AP) pelvic radiography for hip contusion or a routine health check were analyzed for the relation of joint space narrowing to the center-edge (CE) angle, the acetabular depth, the head-neck ratio, the neck-shaft angle, the pelvic width, the height, the body mass index (BMI), gender and age.

The CE angle was inversely associated with the superomedial JSW and the superolateral JSW. The acetabular depth was positively associated with superomedial JSW. A decreased head-neck ratio and the neck-shaft angle were not associated with the superomedial or superolateral JSW. The height was positively associated with an increased superomedial JSW, but not with the superolateral JSW. The BMI and increased age were positively associated with the superolateral JSW, but not with the superomedial JSW.

Our study showed that the CE angle was the single constant radiological parameter that was inversely related to the JSW of hip joints. Further, the height was positively related to the superomedial JSW while the BMI was positively related to the superolateral JSW. The normal aging process was not associated with joint space narrowing of the hip joint.