Femoral morphometry and anterior knee pain

By computed tomography scan, morphology of the femur in 20 adult patients with anterior knee pain was compared with that of ten volunteers without knee pain to identify femoral characteristics associated with the painful patella. Anteversion, measured as the difference between the axis of the head-neck and the axis of the posterior condyles, was significantly greater in symptomatic adults (p < 0.01). Configuration of the distal femur and position of the patella relative to the femur were similar in each group. Adult anterior knee pain was, therefore, associated with increased anteversion without compensatory change in trochlear morphology or patellar orientation to the femur.