The quadriceps angle and its relation to femoral torsion.
In 29 patients with patellofemoral complaints paired values of Q-angle and internal hip rotation were determined. In addition the patellar height index of Insall & Salvati (1971) was calculated from measurements on lateral radiographs of the knees. Both Q-angle and internal hip rotation were significantly higher in women than in men and there was a statistically significant correlation between these two measurements. There was no significant correlation between Q-angles and patellar height indexes. As external hip rotation can generally be taken as a measure of internal femoral torsion, these findings favour the hypothesis of a torsional malalignment syndrome of the patellofemoral joint.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002357:Cartilage Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D002358:Cartilage, Articular; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000473:pathology*; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000473:pathology*; D010329:Patella / Q000473:pathology; D013848:Thigh; D014102:Torsion Abnormality