Abstract
Abstract
Background
Lower limb mechanical axis has long been seen as a key to successful in lower limb surgery, including knee arthroplasty. Traditionally, coronal alignment has been assessed with weight-bearing lower limb radiographs (LLR) allowing assessment of hip-knee-ankle alignment. More recently CT scanograms (CTS) have been advocated as a possible alternative, having the potential benefits of being quicker, cheaper, requiring less specialist equipment and being non-weightbearing.
Objectives
To evaluate the accuracy and comparability of lower limb alignment values derived from LLR versus CTS.
Methods
We prospectively investigated patients undergoing knee arthroplasty with preoperative and postoperative LLR and CTS, analysing both preoperative and postoperative LLRs & CTS giving 140 imaging tests for direct comparison. We used two independent observers to calculate on each of imaging modalities, on both pre- and post-operative images, the: hip-knee-ankle alignment (HKA), lateral distal femoral angle (LDFA) and medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA).
Results
840 data points were captured from pre- and post-operative LLRs and CTSs. Analysis demonstrated very strong correlation in pre-operative HKA (LLR vs CTS, r = 0.917), post-operative HKAs (LLR vs CTS, 0.850) and postoperative LDFAs (LLR vs CTS, 0.850). Strong correlation was observed in pre-operative LDFAs (0.732), MPTAs (0.604), and post-operative MPTAs (0.690).
Conclusion
Both pre- and post-operative LLR and CTS imaging display very strong correlation for HKA coronal alignment correlation, with strong correlation for other associated angles around the knee. Our results demonstrate that both LLR and CTS can be used interchangeably with similar results.
Declaration of Interest
(b) declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported:I declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.
