MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE PATTERNS OF CALCANEAL FACETS FOR THE TALUS

Abstract

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Background. The literature describes different patterns of calcaneal facets for the talus in terms of whether some calcaneal facets are connected or separated from each other or completely absent. Aim. The aim of this study was to establish the patterns of calcaneal facets for the talus, calculate their total size and analyse data considering the gender. Material and Methods. Study involved 33 calcanei. The gender was established according to average parameter values standardly used for that purpose. The calcanei were photographed using a digital camera. The patterns of calcaneal facets were determined by comparing these photographs with photographs from the literature. ImageJ program was used to measure gender determination parameters and size of calcaneal facets. Results and Discussion. Pattern 1 was the most commonly found in the study sample (51.52%), then pattern 2 (42.42%) and pattern 3 (6.06%). Among female bones the most frequent was pattern 1, while among male bones patterns 1 and 2 were present with the same frequency. Patterns 1 and 2 have larger contact surface for the talus compared to pattern 3. Male bones have larger contact surface for the talus than female bones. Conclusions. The sum of pattern 1 and pattern 3 frequencies in our study was high, so we concluded that our population is more prone to subtalar arthritis. Knowing how frequent are the different patterns of calcaneal facets for the talus in a certain population is important for orthopaedic surgeons when performing foot osteotomy.