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Table 1 Description of distal femur and proximal tibia measurements

From: The distal femur is a reliable guide for tibial plateau fracture reduction: a study of measurements on 3D CT scans in 84 healthy knees

Measure

Description

Distance

 Lateral femoral articular edge to lateral tibial articular edge (dLA)

Horizontal distance between the most lateral femoral articular edge to the most lateral tibial articular edge, parallel to the joint line, on coronal view.1

 Lateral femoral condyle to lateral tibial condyle (dLC)

Horizontal distance between the most lateral femoral condyle to the lateral tibial condyle, parallel to the joint line, on coronal view.2

 Medial femoral articular edge to medial tibial articular edge (dMA)

Horizontal distance between the most medial femoral articular edge to the most medial tibial articular edge, parallel to the joint line, on coronal view.3

 Medial femoral condyle to medial tibial condyle (dMC)

Horizontal distance between the most medial femoral condyle to the medial tibial condyle, parallel to the joint line, on coronal view.4

 Articular width ratio

Tibial articular width (distance between the most medial to the most lateral of tibial articular edge, parallel to the joint line, on coronal view) divided by femoral articular width (distance between the most medial to the most lateral of femoral articular edge, parallel to the joint line, on coronal view)

Percentage

 Fibular coverage in PIC-AP view

Percentage of fibular coverage by tibia on coronal view. The widest aspect of the fibular head was measured perpendicular to the fibular axis. A vertical line was made at the most lateral edge of the tibia and parallel to the fibular axis. Fibular coverage was defined as percentage of fibular head width transected to the vertical line from the tibial edge. Coronal view was defined as patella-in-center between the medial and lateral epicondyle of distal femur.

 Fibular coverage in PCT-AP view

Percentage of fibular coverage by tibia on coronal view. Widest aspect of fibular head was measured perpendicular to the fibular axis. A vertical line was made at the most lateral edge of the tibia and parallel to the fibular axis. Fibular coverage was defined as percentage of fibular head width transected to the vertical line from the tibial edge. Coronal view was defined as 90° to the lateral view of the distal femur (posterior aspects of the femoral condyles are superimposed).

  1. AP anterior-posterior, PCT posterior condylar tangent, PIC patella-in-center
  2. 1A positive value means the lateral tibial articular edge is more lateral compared with the femur; a negative value means the femoral articular edge is more lateral compared with the tibia
  3. 2A positive value means the lateral tibial condyle is more lateral compared with the femur; a negative value means the lateral femoral condyle is more lateral compared with the tibia
  4. 3A positive value means the medial tibial articular edge is more medial compared with the femur; a negative value means the medial femoral articular edge is more medial compared with the tibia
  5. 4A positive value means the medial tibial condyle is more medial compared with the femur; a negative value means the femoral condyle is more medial compared with the tibia