Long-term follow-up of distal femoral varus osteotomy of the knee

Abstract

Distal femoral varus osteotomy (DFVO) of the knee may be indicated for young, active patients with unicompartmental arthritis and valgus deformity. We report on 40 DFVOs with a mean follow-up of 123 months. At the most recent follow-up, 24 knees had good or excellent results (60%), 3 had fair results (7.5%), and 3 had poor results (7.5%). Four in the fair/poor group were awaiting total knee arthroplasty. Eight knees (20%) had been converted to total knee arthroplasty. Mean Knee Society objective score improved from 18 (range, 0-74) to 87.2 (range, 50-100). Mean Knee Society function score improved from 54 (range, 0-100) to 85.6 (range, 40-100). Ten-year survival rate of the DFVO was 82% (95% confidence interval, 75%-89%) and the 15-year survival rate was 45% (95% confidence interval, 33%-57%).