Morphometric measurements of patella in population of South Bengal with literature review

Abstract

Background: Morphometric analysis of patella is important for implant surgeries, medicolegal point of view. Success of total knee replacement depends on proper dimensions of the implant. Measurement varies with race and ethnicity. Several studies have been done all over India regarding measurements of patella, but there is a scarcity of data on South Bengal population. Objective: Measurement of different parameters of patella: Thickness, height, width of articular and non- articular surfaces and correlation between them in dry bones among South Bengal population. Materials and Methods: One hundred right and 100 left dry patellae of unknown age and sex were collected from bone libraries of different medical colleges of Kolkata as well as from Prafulla Chandra Sen Government Medical College and Hospital, Arambagh. Measurements were taken by Vernier calipers, and data analysis was done using SPSS version 16. We also classified patella according to Koyuncu's classification. Results: We got mean and standard deviation values of height, width, thickness, width of medial and lateral articular facets, height of articular and nonarticular surface, height of articular/total height, and ratio of width of medial and lateral articular facets for right and left patellae. The measurement of medial articular facet of right and left sides of patella was 20.58 ± 2.051 and 19.98 ± 2.177, respectively. The P value of this was 0.046 which was statistically significant. We also correlated height and width with other parameters. We followed Koyuncu's classification in present study and found minimum number of type C patella 4(2%) ,19 (09.5%) samples of type A, and maximum number of type B 117(88.5%). Conclusion: These morphometric data of patella will be helpful from medicolegal point of view as well as reconstructive surgery of knee joint.

Keywords

• implantation
• morphometry
• patella