title: The medial and lateral epicondyle as a reliable landmark for intra-operative joint line determination in revision knee arthroplasty.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to develop an accurate, reliable and easily applicable method for determining the anatomical location of the joint line during revision knee arthroplasty.
  
  
  METHODS
  The transepicondylar width (TEW), the perpendicular distance between the medial and lateral epicondyles and the distal articular surfaces (DMAD, DLAD) and the distance between the medial and lateral epicondyles and the posterior articular surfaces (PMAD, DLAD) were measured in 40 knees from 20 formalin-fixed adult cadavers (11 male and nine female; mean age at death 56.9 years, sd 9.4; 34 to 69). The ratios of the DMAD, PMAD, DLAD and PLAD to TEW were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean TEW, DMAD, PMAD, DLAD and PLAD were 82.76 mm (standard deviation (sd) 7.74), 28.95 mm (sd 3.3), 28.57 mm (sd 3), 23.97 mm (sd 3.27) and 24.42 mm (sd 3.14), respectively. The ratios between the TEW and the articular distances (DMAD/TEW, DLAD/TEW, PMAD/TEW and PLAD/TEW) were calculated and their means were 0.35 (sd 0.02), 0.34 (sd 0.02), 0.28 (sd 0.03) and 0.29 (sd 0.03), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This method provides a simple, reproducible and reliable technique enabling accurate anatomical joint line restoration during revision total knee arthroplasty.Cite this article: B. Ozkurt, T. Sen, D. Cankaya, S. Kendir, K. Basarır, Y. Tabak. The medial and lateral epicondyle as a reliable landmark for intra-operative joint line determination in revision knee arthroplasty. Bone Joint Res 2016;5:280-286. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.57.BJR-2016-0002.R1.
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Department, Ankara Numune Research and Training Hospital, Talatpasa Bulvarı Samanpazarı Ankara, Turkey bulentozkurt@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ozkurt
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine Anatomy Department Ankara University, Sıhhiye Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Department, Ankara Numune Research and Training Hospital, Talatpasa Bulvarı Samanpazarı Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cankaya
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine Anatomy Department Ankara University, Sıhhiye Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kendir
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine Anatomy Department Ankara University, Sıhhiye Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Basarır
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Department, Ankara Numune Research and Training Hospital, Talatpasa Bulvarı Samanpazarı Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tabak
keywords: Arthroplasty; Cadaver; Joint line; Knee; Revision arthroplasty