Determination of knee joint line level: observational study

The aim of the study was to determine the level of the articular space of the knee joint by conducting an anthropological study of healthy people of both sexes, of different ages, to compare the accuracy of measuring the line of the articular space of the knee joint by different methods and to determine the statistical patterns of determining this indicator depending on various anatomical landmarks.Materials and methods. 60 standard computed tomography of the knee joint was performed in 60 patients (age 43.1 ± 13.4 years) and MRI studies of 273 knee joints in 273 patients (age 46.1 ± 15.9 years), who did not have any injuries (fractures, dislocations) of the knee, surgery, inflammatory, degenerative or deforming processes. Analysis and measurements of CT and MRI scans were carried out in three planes (projections): frontal, sagittal and axial, anatomicallandmarks were applied (medial and lateral femoral epicondyle, leading to the femoral tubercle and tibia tuberosity), through which lines were drawn (intercondylar thigh line) and built the line of the knee joint, measured the distance from the line of the knee joint to anatomical landmarks, and performed statistical analysis.Results. In linear regression analysis of computed tomography data, the ratio of the measured parameters to the level of the knee joint line, the linear relationship of the values was weak, except for the relationship between the head of the fibula and the outer condyle of the femur (R2 = 0.069 at p = 0.043) and the diameter of the tibia at the tuberosity level (R2 = 0.077 at p = 0.031), which can be assessed as positive, in other cases negative with a high degree of statistical significance.Conclusion: The level of the knee joint line according to computed tomography, measured from the head of the fibula in the frontal plane, can be assessed as a reliable and reliable reference point for locating the normal knee joint line with a high degree of statistical significance.