Degenerative arthritis of the knee joint is one of the main causes of disability in middle-aged persons. This paper is planned by the necessity of objective information upon changes of tibio-femoral angle according to weight bearing in patients with degenerative arthritis of the knee joint. The authors studied the tibio-femoral angle in 29 cases of degenerative arthritis of the knee ranging fmm 5th to 6th decades of age, and compared with 27 cases of the control group, in the Dept. of Orthopedic Surgery, S.N.U.H. fmm Mar. 1983 to May 1984. The following observations were obtained: 1. In patients with degenerative arthritis of the knee, changes of the tibio-femoral angle according to weight bearing were +2.2±1.94 in 5th decade, +2.3±2.02 in 6th decade. 2. Compared to control group, the degenerative arthritis group showed a significant varization with weight bearing. 3. It was seemed that the weight bearing radiography is essential in diagnosis and treatment of degenerative arthritis of the knee joint.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Knee ; Knee Joint ; Orthopedics ; Osteoarthritis ; Radiography ; Weight-Bearing

PURPOSE: To analyse clinical result of total knee arthroplasty without patellar resurfacing who had moderate to severe patellofemoral arthritis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Unilateral knee joints of 54 cases, diagnosed to be moderate to severe patellofemoral arthritis on the basis of Ahlback's radiographic evaluation score of patella on preoperative plain radiography among the patients undergone the total knee arthroplasty due to primary degenerative osteoarthritis at this hospital between January 2000 and March 2004, were subject to this study. Patellar resurfacing was not performed in any cases. Likewise, the knee score of Hospital for Special Surgery and Feller's patellar score were used in clinical assessment preoperatively, and was used two years after the operation. RESULTS: The knee score of Hospital for Special Surgery was increased from 55.1 (35~78) to 82.8 (67~95), and also Feller's patellar score was increased from 19.1 (11~24) to 28.3 (18~30) after operation. Mild anterior knee pain was observed in 5 cases (9.3%) after the operation, but medication was needed in just 2 cases. The 42 cases (77.8%) could normally go up and down stairs without holding the rail. CONCLUSION: The total knee arthroplasty without patellar resurfacing, performed for the patients diagnosed with moderate to severe patellofemoral arthritis related with the indication for patellar resurfacing, derived satisfactory outcomes.
Arthritis* ; Arthroplasty* ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; Knee* ; Osteoarthritis ; Patella ; Radiography

BACKGROUND: Despite the wide use of knee radiography in children and adolescent patients visiting the outpatient clinic, there has been no analysis about the prevalence and type of incidental findings yet. This study was performed to investigate the incidental findings on knee radiographs in children and adolescents according to age. METHODS: A total of 1,562 consecutive patients younger than 18 years of age were included. They who visited Seoul National University Bundang Hospital's outpatient clinic with a chief complaint of knee pain or malalignment between 2010 and 2011. We reviewed the knee radiographs and analyzed the prevalence and type of incidental findings, such as metaphyseal lucent area, epiphyseal cortical irregularity, osteochondroma and Harris growth arrest line. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 10.2 years (range, 1 month to 18 years). We identified 355 incidental findings in 335 patients (21.4%) and 98 abnormal findings (6.3%). The most common incidental finding was metaphyseal lucent area (131, 8.4%), followed by epiphyseal cortical irregularity (105, 6.7%), Harris growth arrest line (75, 4.8%), and osteochondroma (44, 2.8%). An epiphyseal cortical irregularity tended to have a higher prevalence at younger age (p < 0.001) and the prevalences of metaphyseal lucent area and Harris growth arrest line were also higher at a younger age (p = 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). However, the osteochondroma tended to have a higher prevalence at an older age (p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: This study describes the incidental findings on knee radiographs in children and adolescents and provides effective information from a viewpoint of an orthopedic doctor. The authors recommend considering those incidental findings if unfamiliar findings appear on a knee radiograph in the pediatric outpatient clinic.
Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Humans ; *Incidental Findings ; Infant ; Knee/*radiography ; Knee Joint/*radiography ; Retrospective Studies

We report the case of a polyethylene tibial post fracture in a 72-year-old woman 14 months after a Scorpio posterior-stabilized (PS) total knee arthroplasty. The polyethylene wear was found around the fracture site of the post, especially over the anterior aspect of the post base. The failure mechanism of the post fracture in the present case was anterior impingement with excessive wear over the base of the anterior aspect of the tibial post, which became a stress-riser of post and cam articulation. This is the first report of a polyethylene tibial post fracture of a Scorpio PS prosthesis.
Aged ; *Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; Female ; Humans ; Knee Joint/radiography ; Knee Prosthesis/*adverse effects ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/surgery ; *Polyethylenes ; *Prosthesis Failure ; Reoperation

BACKGROUND: Clinical and radiologic evaluation and analyses of the surgeries using Buechel and Pappas (B-P) knee implants. METHODS: The study was conducted on 60 patients who underwent 94 total knee replacement arthroplasty with B-P knee implants from May 2009 to December 2010. The results were compared to the results of 41 patients who underwent 60 knee joint surgeries using NexGen-LPS implants from January 2008 to August 2009. RESULTS: The American Knee Society score of the B-P knee group increased from an average of 66.9 (clinical score) and 65.5 (functional score) to 93.4 and 90.3, respectively; while those for the NexGen-LPS group increased from an average of 68.8 (clinical score) and 62.4 (functional score) to 86.3 and 76, respectively. The average ranges of motion of the B-P knee group and the NexGen-LPS group were 119.1degrees and 114.8degrees, respectively, before surgery and improved to 121.0degrees and 123.0degrees at final follow-up after the surgery. The visual analogue scale scores for the B-P knee group and the NexGen-LPS group improved from 4.7 and 4.6 to 1.4 and 1.8, respectively. The flexion contracture also improved from 5.1degrees and 6.3degrees to 0.64degrees and 1.72degrees. The tibio-femoral angle for the B-P knee group and the NexGen-LPS group also improved greatly after the surgery, from varus 0.34degrees and 0.73degrees each to valgus 6.7degrees and 6.9degrees, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation of more than 2 years of total knee replacement arthroplasty using B-P knee implants showed good results. B-P knee implants showed a relatively higher degree of satisfaction in clinical knee score and less intraoperative bone mass removal than NexGen-LPS implants.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee/*instrumentation ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee Joint/radiography/*surgery ; *Knee Prosthesis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/radiography/*surgery

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the preoperative distractive stress radiographs in order to quantify and predict the extent of medial release according to the degree of varus deformity in primary total knee arthroplasty. METHODS: We evaluated 120 varus, osteoarthritic knee joints (75 patients). The association of the angle on the distractive stress radiograph with extent of medial release was analyzed. The extent of medial release was classified into the following 4 groups according to the stage: release of the deep medial collateral ligament (group 1), release of the posterior oblique ligament and/or semimembranous tendon (group 2), release of the posterior capsule (group 3) and release of the superficial medial collateral ligament (group 4). RESULTS: The mean femorotibial angle on the preoperative distractive stress radiograph was valgus 2.4degrees (group 1), valgus 0.8degrees (group 2), varus 2.1degrees (group 3) and varus 2.7degrees (group 4). The extent of medial release increased with increasing degree of varus deformity seen on the preoperative distractive stress radiograph. CONCLUSIONS: The preoperative distractive stress radiograph was useful for predicting the extent of medial release when performing primary total knee arthroplaty.
Aged ; *Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee/methods ; Female ; Humans ; Joint Deformities, Acquired/etiology/radiography ; Knee Joint/*radiography ; Ligaments, Articular/radiography ; Male ; Medial Collateral Ligament, Knee/*surgery ; Middle Aged ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/complications/radiography/*surgery

PURPOSE: To compare the results of posterior cruciate ligament reconstructions by tibial inlay and tibial tunnel techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Despite of conservative treatment, all patients (31 cases) had pain and grade 2 or more posterior instability. Posterior drawer test and posterior drawer stress radiography were performed. Clinically, Lysholm knee score and Tegner activity score were evaluated. RESULTS: In the tibial tunnel group, posterior drawer test demonstrated grade 1 instability in 7 cases, grade 2 in 4 cases, and grade 3 in 1 case at the last follow-up. In the tibial inlay group, there was grade 1 instability in 14 cases and grade 2 in 5 cases. On posterior drawer stress radiography, the mean side-to-side difference in measurement of the tibial tunnel group improved from 12.4 mm preoperatively to 4.0 mm at follow-up, and that of the tibial inlay group improved from 11.8 mm to 2.9 mm. Lysholm knee score and Tegner activity score improved to 86.8 points and 5.83 points, respectively, in the tibial tunnel group, and to 88.2 points and 5.84 points, in the tibial inlay group. CONCLUSION: PCL reconstruction with the tibial inlay technique tends to maintain better posterior stability, but there is no statistically significant difference between the two techniques. Further study may be required.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Inlays* ; Knee ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament* ; Radiography

Purpose: To evaluate the value of an open wedge high tibial osteotomy (HTO) using a Locking Compression Plate(R) (LCP(R)) as a surgical technique. Materials and Methods: From May, 2003 to January, 2005, eleven open wedge HTO using LCP(R) were performed and the average follow-up period was 17.8 months. The knee score and function score for the clinical results, and the degree of varus deformity, the size of the joint space, the posterior tibial slope and the medial instability for radiography results were evaluated. Results: The knee score improved from 54.8 points to 95.9 points, and the function score improved from 57.3 points to 88.2 points. The femorotibial angle was corrected from 4.1degrees varus to 9.9degrees valgus. The posterior tibial slope did not show any significant change. The size of the joint space increased from 3.3 mm to 4.3 mm. No medial instability was observed. Conclusion: An open wedge HTO using LCP(R) achieved a corrected angle, reduced loss of the corrected angle, and an improved knee function. The surgical technique prevented the posterior tibial slope from increasing.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Joints ; Knee ; Osteotomy ; Radiography

Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Radiography

Isometric positioning of the ACL graft is an important consideration in successful reconstruction of the ACL-deficient knee. The purpose of this study is to get a certain guideline in the endoscopic one-tunnel technique of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction by measuring the skin angle and determine the degree of minimum flexion of the knee joint during femoral tunneling and interference screw fixations. To get the guide lines, first we get the tibial tunnel angle parallel to the Blumensaat's line from fully extended lateral knee joint radiography. Secondly measure the differences between angles of the femur-tibia shaft and anterior thigh-leg skin. Then measure the minimum femur-tibia flexion angle does not perforated the posterior cortex of the distal femur during femoral tunneling. Intraoperative measuring the angle between interference screw guide pin and tibial tunnel to get the parallelism of the femoral tunnel and interference screw. The results were as follows; The average femur-tibia shaft angle with 30degrees anterior thigh-leg skin angle was 30.2+/-1.75degrees, with 45degrees was 45.2+/-1.23degrees, with 60degrees was 61.9+/-4.23degrees, with 75degrees was 78.6+/-2.62degrees, with 90degrees was 97.8+/-3.96degrees. Predetermined sagittal tibial tunnel vector on the 0degrees extension knee joint lateral radiographs were applied to the several knee joint dynamograms. The mean minimum flexion angle of the femur-tibia shaft that doesn't perforate the posterior cortex of the femur was 45+/-1.58degrees (male), 44.5+/-4.97degrees (female). The average angle between interference screw guide pin and tibial tunnel was 23.0+/-2.23degrees. The findings of the present study suggest that anterior thigh-leg skin angle can be used instead of the true femur-tibia shaft angle. Less knee flexion angle makes good arthroscopic view during the tibio-femoral tunneling and interference screw fixation.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction ; Femur ; Knee Joint* ; Knee* ; Radiography ; Skin ; Transplants