Coronal and sagittal alignment of the lower limb in Caucasians: Analysis of a 3D CT database

Lower limb alignment is a major determinant of long-term outcomes after osteotomy or total knee replacement. The aim of this paper is to define the mean values of coronal and sagittal lower limb alignment for Caucasians as a function of sex using 3D reconstructions from CT-scans.

The analysis involved 586 Caucasian patients (269 males and 317 females) who had their hip-knee-ankle angle (HKA), lateral distal femoral angle (LDFA), medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA), posterior proximal tibial angle (PPTA), lateral and medial proximal posterior tibial angles (LPPTA/MPPTA), posterior distal femoral angle (PDFA), and non-weightbearing joint convergence angle (nwJLCA) measured. This analysis was performed using a CT-scan-based modelling system (SOMA). Differences between sexes and morphotypes (neutral, varus and valgus) were analyzed statistically.

The mean HKA was 180±2.57°, LDFA 86.1±1.87°, MPTA 86.1±2.15°, PPTA 84.6±2.58°, LPPTA 84.9±3.17°, MPPTA 85.1±3.21°, PDFA 85.3±1.50° and nwJLCA 0.82±1.32°. There was a significant difference between sexes for the HKA (180.3±2.46° and 179.0±2.52°), LDFA (85.6±1.90° and 86.8±1.61°), MPPTA (84.7±3.06° and 85. 6±3.31°). The neutral morphotype was more frequent in women than men (78% vs. 73%), the varus morphotype was more frequent in men than women (20% vs. 7.6%) and the valgus morphotype was more frequent in women than men (15% vs. 6.7%).

Normal parameters for lower limb alignment in Caucasian patients were described in the coronal and sagittal planes. There was a significant influence of sex in the coronal plane, which was not found in the sagittal plane.

IV; retrospective cohort study.