Morphometric analysis of the patterns of calcaneal facets for the talus in Serbian population

Abstract

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. The aim of this study was to establish the patterns of calcaneal facets for the talus, to calculate their total area, and to analyse the data with respect to gender. The study involved 59 calcanei which were photographed. The patterns of calcaneal facets noted in this study were compared with the patterns from the literature. ImageJ program was used to measure different parameters on calcanei. The pattern 1 was the most commonly found in the study sample (45.76%), then the pattern 2 (40.68%), and finally the pattern 3 (13.56%). That order of frequencies is the same in both sexes. The patterns 1 and 2 have a larger contact surface for the talus in comparison to the pattern 3. Male bones have a larger contact surface for the talus than female bones. The sum of the pattern 1 and pattern 3 frequencies was high. Knowing the frequency of different patterns of calcaneal facets for the talus in a certain population is important for orthopaedic surgeons when performing foot osteotomy.