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. 2022 Apr 26;23(1):386.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-022-05319-4.

Radiographic measurement of the posterior tibial slope in normal Chinese adults: a retrospective cohort study

Yong Chen #  1 , Jianping Ding #  2 , Siyu Dai  2 , Jiao Yang  3 , Mengke Wang  4 , Tian Tian  2 , Xiaolong Deng  2 , Boyi Li  2 , Guohua Cheng  5 , Jie Liu  6
Affiliations

Radiographic measurement of the posterior tibial slope in normal Chinese adults: a retrospective cohort study

Yong Chen et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Measurement of the posterior tibial slope (PTS) angle has important applications in total knee replacement surgery, high tibial osteotomy, and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. This study aimed to determine the mean PTS of knee joints in healthy Chinese adults, and provide data to guide knee surgery in China.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 1257 (n = 1233, 50.4% male) plain X-ray films of participants aged 25-59 years was performed. The picture archiving and communication system was used for PTS measurement. The PTS was defined as the angle between the vertical line of the tangent of the anterior tibial cortex of the proximal tibia, and the tangent line of the tibial cortex. Two imaging physicians conducted the PTS measurements independently, and both the inter- and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated.

Results: The mean PTS value was 7.68 ± 3.84° (range: 0-21°). The left PTS was significantly smaller in males than in females (7.22 ± 3.89 vs 8.05 ± 3.60; P = 0.005). Additionally, the PTS in participants aged 25-29 years was significantly larger than that in the other age groups (Left side: 8.64 ± 3.73 vs 6.92 ± 3.42, 7.42 ± 3.75, 7.53 ± 3.98; P < 0.001 and Right side: 8.68 ± 3.84 vs 7.48 ± 4.21, 7.13 ± 3.64, 7.66 ± 3.80; P = 0.004). There were no significant differences in PTS between the left and right sides. Two-way analysis of variance suggested that the differences in PTS between age groups were not affected by sex. The interobserver ICC was 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.85-0.94), and the intraobserver ICC was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.82-0.94).

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that there were significant differences in PTS based on sex and age, highlighting the need to provide individualized treatment for knee surgery. It provided valuable information regarding the normal PTS values in Chinese adults and presented regionalised data to guide knee surgery.

Keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament; Arthroplasty; Chinese; Normal value; Posterior tibial slope.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The measurement method of posterior tibial slope (PTS)*. *X-ray lateral inspection: line 1 is the tangent line of the proximal tibia on the anterior cortex surface, line 2 is the perpendicular to line 1, and line 3 is the tangent line of the tibial plateau
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of posterior tibial slope (PTS) (°) by genders
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Distribution of posterior tibial slope PTS (°) by genders and age groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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