Morphometric differences between the distal femora of men and women

Abstract

Introduction: Distal part of the femur is the component of the knee joint. Its fractures are common orthopedic injuries, that occur to younger people as a result of high energy trauma and in the elderly, often after lower energy falls, along with osteoporosis or other medical comorbidities. Distal femur has been the subject of many researches. Goal: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mesurements of the distal part of the femur and their relation to gender.Material and methods: We examined 32 adult human femora from the Osteological collection at the Department of Anatomy of Medical Faculty in Novi Sad. For sex determination of femora, we used the protocol from Alunni-Perret at al. (2008). We measured ten diameters: anteroposterior diameter of the lateral condyle, anteroposterior diameter of the medial condyle, mediolateral width of both condyles, mediolateral diameter of the lateral condyle, mediolateral diameter of the medial condyle, lateral anterior height, medial anterior height, width of the intercondylar fossa, height of the intercondylar fossa, epicondylar width. We also calculated three intercondylar notch idices: notch width, shape and area index. Dimensions were measured by means of the software program'Image J'. Results: Our findings showed that the dimensions of the distal part of the femur were greater in males than in females. Measures of intercondylar notch geometry showed no gender differences. Conclusion: The knowledge of gender differences in the dimensions of the distal part of the femur may be useful for diagnosis and treatment of this region.