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A simplified relationship between the femoral trochlea and the femoral condyle: A sagittal MRI analysis by an ellipse‐fitting approach
Author(s) -
Wang Gang,
Liu Mingyang,
Zhang Zheng,
Liu Shiwei,
Zhang Guanpeng,
Yang Chen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
clinical anatomy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1098-2353
pISSN - 0897-3806
DOI - 10.1002/ca.23395
Subject(s) - ellipse , condyle , anatomy , rectangle , sagittal plane , medicine , cadaveric spasm , geometry , magnetic resonance imaging , orthodontics , mathematics , radiology
We have introduced an ellipse‐fitting approach to express the shapes of trochlea and condyle on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to analyze their relationship. Fifty healthy right knees were sagittal‐imaged by MRI at full extension. On the deepest trochlear groove slice, the articular surface was best‐fitted by a circle. Based on the center of this circle, both the most prominent slices of the medial and lateral trochleae were best‐fitted by ellipses. On the most distal slice of medial condyle, the articular surface was best‐fitted by a horizontal ellipse. Based on the center of this ellipse, the lateral condyle was best‐fitted by a rotational ellipse. The semimajor and semiminor axes of the trochlear ellipse and the condylar ellipse constituted a rectangle that represented the relationship between the trochlea and the condyle. The anteroposterior dimension ( l ) of this rectangle was 12.33 ± 1.41 mm, and the superoinferior dimension ( w ) was 7.21 ± 1.23 mm. The average tangent angle ( θ ) of the rectangle was 30.1° ± 2.6°. There were significant sex differences in l , w , and θ (all P ≤ 0.006), and all correlated significantly with the height of the subject (all P ≤ 0.001). The relationship between the femoral trochlea and the femoral condyle differed significantly between males and females, but this could have been a consequence of the significant correlation with subject height. Clin. Anat. 33:500–506, 2020. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.