Alignment of Ankle and Hindfoot in Early Stage Ankle Osteoarthritis

Background:Supramalleolar osteotomy has been recommended to correct varus deformity of the tibial plafond; however, we have seen only a few ankles with significant deviation of alignment in early stage osteoarthritis, in which realignment treatments might be necessary to modify the course of the disease. Our hypothesis was that there are diverse radiographic features of the tibial plafond and hindfoot in varus ankle osteoarthritis.Materials and Methods:The study included 154 ankles of 98 patients with medial osteoarthritis, and 80 ankles of 80 normal subjects. On weightbearing AP radiographs, the tibial anterior surface angle (TAS), tibial axis-medial malleolus angle (TMM) and talar tilt angle was measured. On weightbearing lateral radiographs, tibial lateral surface angle (TLS) was measured. On the hindfoot alignment view, the heel alignment angle and heel alignment ratio were obtained. Inter- and intraobserver reliabilities were obtained for all radiographic parameters. The radiographic parameters were ...