Influence of the Upper Femur and Pelvic Geometry on the Risk and Type of Hip Fractures

The geometry of the upper femur has been reported to associate with the hip fracture risk in postmenopausal women. However, these associations seem to be partly conflicting, probably because of differences in measurement setup. Here, we compared the upper femur and pelvic geometries of 70 hip fractu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of bone and mineral research 2001-08, Vol.16 (8), p.1540-1546
Main Authors: Partanen, Juha, Jämsä, Timo, Jalovaara, Pekka
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Body Constitution
cervical
Female
Femur - diagnostic imaging
Femur - pathology
geometry
hip fracture
Hip Fractures - diagnostic imaging
Hip Fractures - pathology
Humans
Injuries of the limb. Injuries of the spine
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
neck/shaft angle
Pelvic Bones - diagnostic imaging
Pelvic Bones - pathology
Radiography
Risk Factors
Traumas. Diseases due to physical agents
trochanteric
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Summary:The geometry of the upper femur has been reported to associate with the hip fracture risk in postmenopausal women. However, these associations seem to be partly conflicting, probably because of differences in measurement setup. Here, we compared the upper femur and pelvic geometries of 70 hip fracture patients (46 cervical and 24 trochanteric fractures) and 40 age‐adjusted controls based on plain anteroposterior radiographs, eliminating the possible sources of inaccuracy as far as possible by using a standardized patient position and calibrated dimension measurements by digital image analysis. The femoral neck/shaft angle (NSA) was larger in the fracture patients compared with the controls (p < 0.001). The fracture group had thinner cortices in the upper femur than the controls (p < 0.001). The femoral shaft diameter (FSD; p < 0.001), trochanter width (TW; p < 0.01), and the pelvic dimensions, that is, the smallest outer pelvic diameter (SOPD; p < 0.01) and the largest inner pelvic diameter (LIPD; p < 0.05) were smaller in the fracture group. Comparing the fracture types, we found NSA larger in the cervical hip fracture patients than in the patients with a trochanteric fracture (p < 0.01). The femoral neck/shaft cortex ratio was lower and the FSD was smaller in the cervical hip fracture group (p < 0.05). Acetabular width (AW) was greater and the SOPD was wider in the cervical fracture patients (p < 0.01). We concluded that the upper femur and pelvic dimensions as defined from calibrated and position‐standardized plain radiographs are useful in the evaluation of hip fracture risk and fracture type.
ISSN:0884-0431
1523-4681
DOI:10.1359/jbmr.2001.16.8.1540