Is there an alternative to the full-leg radiograph for determining knee joint alignment in osteoarthritis?
Hinman RS; May RL; Crossley KM Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, School of Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. ranash@unimelb.edu.au OBJECTIVE: To assess the concurrent validity of alternative measures of frontal plane knee alignment, namely the radiographic anatomic axis and 5 clinical measures, in medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA) as compared with the mechanical axis on radiograph. METHODS: Forty individuals (mean +/- SD age 64.7 +/- 9.4 years) with symptomatic medial knee OA participated. Knee alignment was measured according to the following methods: lower-limb mechanical axis on radiograph, lower-limb anatomic axis on radiograph, visual observation, distance between medial knee joint lines or medial malleoli using a caliper, distance between a plumb line and medial knee joint line or malleolus using a caliper, tibial alignment using a gravity inclinometer, and lower-limb alignment using a goniometer. Data were a
