THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSES IN VARUS AND VALGUS OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE

IntroductionThe deformity in osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee has been evaluated mainly in the frontal plane two dimensional X-ray using femorotibial angle. Although the presence of underlying rotational deformity in the varus knee and coexisting hip abnormality in the valgus knee have been suggested, three dimensional (3D) deformities in the varus and valgus knee were still unknown. We evaluated the 3D deformities of the varus and valgus knee using 3D bone models.MethodsPreoperative computed tomography (CT) scans of twenty seven OA knees (fifteen varus and twelve valgus) undergoing total knee arthroplasty were assessed in this study. CT scans of each patient's femur and tibia, with a 2 mm interval, obtained before surgery. We created the 3D digital model of the femur and tibia using visualization and modeling software developed in our institution. The femoral coordinate system was calculated by the 3D mechanical axis and clinical transepicondylar axis and the tibial coordinate system was calculated by the...