Distance between knee anatomic landmarks and the joint line in Chinese people：measurement and characteristic analysis / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:It is important to maintain the height of joint line in total knee arthroplasty or renovation. Foreign scholars have reported the parameters of the distance from different landmarks to knee joint line, but there is stil a lack of relevant data for Chinese people. OBJECTIVE:To explore the relationships of the knee anatomic landmarks and joint line in normal Chinese, thereby providing clinical evidence for primary total knee replacement and knee renovation. METHODS:Totaly 746 normal knee joints of 409 healthy volunteers from North China and Southwest China were randomly enroled, including 214 males and 195 females, with a mean age of 37.7 years. CT scan was used to reconstruct the three-dimensional knee joint, and the distance between the anatomic landmarks and the joint line was measured using Mimics software. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The distance from the center of femoral medial sulcus to the joint line was (25.72±2.52) mm. The distance from the center of lateral femoral condyle prominence to the joint line was (26.30±2.65) mm. The distance from the adduction muscle tubercle to the joint line was (44.60±4.32) mm. The distance from the peak of the tibial tubercle to the joint line was (21.50±3.57) mm. These parameters in male group were significantly higher than those in female group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, these findings provide anatomic evidence for the recovery of joint line in knee replacement or renovation; the variability of the distance from the center of femoral medial sulcus, lateral femoral condyle prominence and adductor tubercle to the joint line is smaler, and therefore, these landmarks have more reference values in total knee arthroplasty.