The lateral joint line opening: a radiographic indicative parameter for high grade varus knees

Purpose It is usually assumed that the severity of varus osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is correlated with the axis deviation of the limb. Despite this, there is currently no clear radiographic definition to define a so-called ‘high degree’ varus knee, which is characterized by a pronounced lateral...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental orthopaedics 2022-05, Vol.9 (1), p.51-51, Article 51
Main Authors: Colyn, William, Cleymans, A., Bruckers, L., Houben, R., Smeets, K., Bellemans, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arthritis
Knee
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Original Paper
Orthopedics
Osteoarthritis
Surgical Orthopedics
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Summary:Purpose It is usually assumed that the severity of varus osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is correlated with the axis deviation of the limb. Despite this, there is currently no clear radiographic definition to define a so-called ‘high degree’ varus knee, which is characterized by a pronounced lateral ligamentous laxity. The purpose of this study was to radiographically determine if the lateral joint line opening (LJLO) is an indicative parameter when defining so-called high grade varus knees. Methods Two hundred forty Full length radiographs of patients with end-stage varus osteoarthritis who were scheduled for Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) were evaluated. The Hip-knee-ankle-angle (HKA-angle), Joint-line-convergence-angle (JLCA) and the lateral joint line opening were measured. The lateral joint line opening is the shortest distance between the lateral tibial plateau and the deepest point of the lateral femoral condyle. Linear regression models were used to investigate the relationships between the radiographic measurements. Results Hip-knee-angle-angle, joint-line-conversion-angle, and lateral joint line opening were all positively correlated ( p  
ISSN:2197-1153
2197-1153
DOI:10.1186/s40634-022-00489-5