Skip to main content
International Orthopaedics logoLink to International Orthopaedics
. 2001 Jun 13;25(4):209–213. doi: 10.1007/s002640100245

The femoral canal fill of two different cementless stem designs

The accuracy of radiographs compared to computed tomographic scanning

Heikki-Jussi Laine 1, Jorma K Pajamäki 1, Teemu Moilanen 1, Matti U Lehto 1
PMCID: PMC3620821  PMID: 11561492

Abstract

In 19 cadaver femora we compared the fill of two types of femoral stems (plastic replica) using computed tomographic (CT) scan with a border detecting computer program and conventional radiographs. In the metaphyseal area the fill of the two types was surprisingly similar. In the diaphysis the straight stem filled significantly more than the proximally anatomic and distally over-reamed stem. Using conventional radiographs the fill measures were from 1.2 to 2.1 times higher than the values of CT scan, depending on the method of calculation. When both anteroposterior and lateral views were used, the fill as measured by radiographs correlated well with the fill as measured using CT scan. When conventional radiographs are used for evaluation of the canal fill, the calculation based on hypothetical rectangular areas at each level seemed to provide the most accurate results.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (65.7 KB).

Footnotes

Electronic Publication


Articles from International Orthopaedics are provided here courtesy of Springer-Verlag

RESOURCES