An anatomical and osteometric study of the femoral sulcus angle in adult Malawians

Abstract

Background: Femoral sulcus angle is particularly important in clinical evaluation of patellofemoral joint. Individuals show considerable differences in asymmetrical dimensions of the femur. Objectives: To determine the size of femoral sulcus angles in adult black Malawians using the skeletal collection in the department of Anatomy, College of Medicine and assess their gender differences; to compare femoral sulcus angles of Malawians with other ethnic groups. Methods: A cross sectional study was done in which femoral sulcus angles of dry bones were measured using a goniometer. Results: There is no significant difference in the mean sulcus angles between right and left femora in males (p=0.8100) and females (p=0.0742); between all males combined and females combined (p=0.8845). There is a significant difference in the mean between all left femora combined and all right femora combined (p=0.0260). Conclusion:This study has provided the mean size of the femoral sulcus angle of adult Malawians. These findings suggest that the size of the sulcus angle cannot determine gender among adult black Malawians suggesting the interpretation that femora asymmetric dimensions are population specific, which should be considered in the patellofemoral joint evaluation.

Gender-related morphological differences in sulcus angle and condylar height for the femoral trochlea using magnetic resonance imaging

“…A recent study that used similar measurement methods as those in our study showed an angle of 140.7 ± 4.4° for 45° lexion, which is similar to the angle observed in our study (143.4 ± 6.5°) [10]. In addition, values similar to previous studies was found in lexion angle at which sulcus angle was measured in this study [7,10,24]. A high sulcus angle indicates shallow or dysplastic trochlea and is observed in the majority of patients sufering from PF disorders [7,9].…”

“…Genderspeciic diferences in the sulcus angle and height except at the 30° lexion were identiied. These results conlict with those of previous studies [23,24,27]. Mwakikunga et al showed that there was no signiicant diference in the mean femoral sulcus angle between men and women [24].…”

“…Murshed et al suggested that there were no differences in the femoral sulcus angle between men and women or between the right and left sides [23]. However, these three studies share the disadvantage of small sample size [23, 24, 27]. In addition, the sulcus angle was not analyzed with respect to various degrees of flexion [23, 24, 27].…”

“…The lateral condylar height is important for aligning the patella within the trochlea in early flexion and to prevent lateral subluxation and tilt [7, 24]. The mean condylar height of the lateral trochlea as 6.6 ± 1.8 mm at 0° of flexion was reported in a recent cadaver study using 33 femurs [28].…”

Trochlea Sulcus and Lateral Trochlea Inclination Angles in Kenyans: An Osteometric Study

“…These figures are close to those obtained by Murshed et al in a dry bone study in a Turkish population, who found an average sulcus angle of 141.2 0[10]. Mwakikunga et al, in an osteological study in a Malawian population found a mean angle of 142.4 0[11], which is close to the figures obtained in the current study. A study on normal Chinese subjects using 3D CT images reported a mean angle of 154.41 0[12].…”