Ontogeny of the female femur: geometric morphometric analysis applied on current living individuals of a Spanish population

Abstract

In this study we describe the development of the female femur based on the analysis of high-resolution radiographic images by means of geometric morphometrics, while assessing the usefulness of this method in these kinds of studies. The material analysed consisted of digital images in DICOM format (telemetries), corresponding to 184 left femora in anterior view, obtained from the database of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu of Barcelona (Spain). Bones analysed corresponded to individuals from 9 to 14 years old. Size and shape variation of the entire femur was quantified by 22 two-dimensional landmarks. Landmark digitisation errors were assessed using Procrustes anova test. Centroid size (CS) variation with age was evaluated by an anova test. Shape variation was assessed by principal component analysis. A mancova test between the first five principal components and age, using the CS as covariable, was applied. Results indicated that both size and shape vary significantly with age. Several age-related shape changes remained significant after removing the allometric effect. In general, an increase in the robustness of the bone and noticeable phenotypic changes in certain areas of the femur were observed. During growth in the proximal region of the femur, the collo-diaphyseal angle decreases, the neck of the femur widens and the fovea moves to a lower position, standing more in line with the plane of the neck. Likewise, the size of the greater and lesser trochanters increase. In the distal region, a significant increase of epiphyseal dimensions was recorded, mainly in the medial condyle. The angular remodelling of the neck and the bicondylar region of the femur in females continues until 13 years old. The information provided in the present study increases our knowledge on the timing and morphology of the femur during development, and in particular the morphology of the different femoral ossification centres during development.

Relationships Between Age at Menarche, Walking Gait Base of Support, and Stance Phase Frontal Plane Knee Biomechanics in Adolescent Girls

“…The tendency toward valgus alignment with earlier menarche is likely related to both anatomical constraints and aspects of neuromuscular control. For example, the angles of each femoral epiphysis relative to the diaphysis develop during puberty, reaching a plateau at an average age of 13 years [59]. If earlier menarche leads to a premature end to this process, it may result in femoral morphology that contributes to more valgus anatomical knee alignment.…”

Measurement error in μCT‐based three‐dimensional geometric morphometrics introduced by surface generation and landmark data acquisition

“…; Pujol et al. ). In general, the geometry of a specimen is represented by a set of landmarks, also called landmark configuration.…”

“…Adams et al 2004Adams et al , 2013Mitteroecker et al 2013), and practical applications (e.g. Klingenberg et al 2002;Cox et al 2011;Pujol et al 2014). In general, the geometry of a specimen is represented by a set of landmarks, also called landmark configuration.…”

“…The variability within repeated measurements performed by the same observer and the variability between different observers can also contribute significantly to measurement error (Ross & Williams, 2008;Robinson & Terhune, 2017; reports of relatively large observer error without tests for statistical significance: Curth et al 2017;Fruciano et al 2017;Daboul et al 2018). Nevertheless, the magnitude of observer error often has been considered small or negligible compared with true biological variability (Richtsmeier et al 1995;O'Higgins & Jones, 1998;Lockwood et al 2002;Pujol et al 2014;Barbeito-Andr es et al 2016).…”

Sexual dimorphism of the pelvic girdle from 3D images of a living Spanish sample from Castilla-La Mancha

“…Increasingly, medical imaging techniques are being used to evaluate and quantify human skeletal variation (Decker et al, 2009). Recently, the interest in the application of CT and virtual methods for establishing biological profiles in palaeoanthropology (Clavero et al, 2014) and forensic anthropology (Pujol et al, 2014) has increased (Decker et al, 2011;Ousley and Jantz, 1998) because these methods have proven to have greater accuracy and reproducibility than traditional linear methods (Decker et al, 2011;Ramsthaler et al, 2010). For example, CT has facilitated the reconstruction of the pelvis and analysis of the position of the foetus in Australopithecines and Neanderthals (Berge and Goularas, 2010;Weaver and Hublin, 2009); it has also provided standard sexual dimorphism values for the hip bone in current living North American (Decker et al, 2011), Japanese (Biwasaka et al, 2009) and Spanish (Clavero et al, 2014) populations to facilitate the sexual determination of human remains.…”