Radiographic Analysis of Lower Limb Alignment in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Background and Objectives: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent musculoskeletal disorder. This study aims to assess the hip-knee-ankle anatomical alignment in patients with OA at different stages. Materials and Methods: Radiological images of 200 OA patients were analyzed to measure parameters such as femoral and tibial lengths (both anatomical and mechanical), abductor length, hip center length, femoral offset, collum femoris length, and shaft angle using ImageJ software (version 1.53k; National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA). Results: The female-to-male ratio was 2.17:1. Male participants exhibited greater values for femoral and tibial lengths, abductor length, hip center length, femoral offset, collum femoris length, and collum femoris shaft angle, whereas females showed higher Q angle, hip-knee-ankle angle, mechanical lateral distal femoral angle, mechanical medial proximal tibial angle, and femoral angle measurements. Significant differences in both linear and angular parameters were observed among age groups. Q angle, hip-knee-ankle angle, femoral mechanical axis shaft angle, plateau angle, and ankle tilt angle values were significantly higher in individuals aged 62-75 years. According to Kellgren-Lawrence staging, significant increases were observed in Q angle, hip-knee-ankle angle, femoral mechanical axis shaft angle, plateau angle, and ankle tilt angle in advanced-stage disease (Stage 4) (p < 0.05). Although mechanical lateral distal femoral angle, femoral Q angle, tibial Q angle, condylar plateau angle, and tibiotalar angle showed numerical differences across disease stages, these findings did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: Comprehensive assessment of lower-extremity alignment may provide complementary information regarding biomechanical changes associated with knee osteoarthritis progression and could support individualized clinical follow-up and treatment planning.