Article

Abnormal femoral torsion has been linked to osteoarthritis in the
knee as well as to patellofemoral pain. Inexpensive, valid, and reliable methods
for assessing femoral torsion are needed. Ultrasound (US) is a noninvasive and
clinically accessible method that can be used for the assessment of bone
morphology, such as femoral torsion. The objective of this study was
to determine the concurrent validity of US for the measurement of femoral torsion
with a reference method, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). DESIGN: Repeated
measurements of femoral torsion were obtained with US and MRI in a laboratory
setting. METHODS: Twenty-eight people (4 men, 24 women; mean age=26.8 years
[SD=4.0 years], mean body height=170.3 cm [SD=8.0 cm], mean body weight=64.7 kg
[SD=9.8 kg]) participated in this study. T1-weighted axial oblique images of the
femoral neck and epicondylar axis were acquired with a 1.5-T magnetic resonance
system. Ultrasonographic measurements then were obtained by a tilting technique
with a linear transducer that was 4.5 cm long and operated at a frequency of 10
MHz and a depth of 5 cm. RESULTS: The average angles of anteversion measured by
US and by MRI were 20.7 degrees (SD=11.0) and 19 degrees (SD=11.3), respectively.
The reliability, reported as the intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC (2,1)],
of repeated measurements of in vivo femoral torsion by US was .98. The
reliability [ICC (2,1)] of magnetic resonance image analysis was .96. The
standard error of the measurement for US was 2.2 degrees, and that for MRI was
1.9 degrees. The concurrent validity of US with MRI (R(2)) was .93 (r=.96).
LIMITATIONS: Obtaining measurements by US requires appropriate training before
data collection. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound measurement of femoral torsion has high
concurrent validity with in vivo MRI and may be used when an assessment of bony
morphology is needed but MRI is not available.

Langue : ANGLAIS