Virginia Research Day 2025

Medical Student Research Biomedical

03 Femoral Epicondylar Width Correlates with the Patellar Facet Angle, and Facet Angle Differs Between Sexes

Faheem Farooq; Madison Metheny; Megan Birmingham; Jonathan Tobin; Phillip Dunn; Tyler McCormick; Jonathan Millard Corresponding author: ffarooq@vcom.edu

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Virginia Campus

performed to determine the difference between male and female groups for combined patellar facet angle. Results: Facet angles were found to be significantly greater in male groups compared to females (t (4.101), p < .001). A moderate correlation between facet angle and maximum femoral epicondylar width was found ( r = 0.342). A weak, but not significant, correlation between facet angle and lateral facet surface area was observed ( r = 0.04). However, there was no significant correlation between facet angle and medial facet surface area ( r = 0.199). Conclusion: It is unsurprising that skeletal elements of the male knee joint are larger; however, it is relevant that the angles of the male facets are also

larger than female angles. This indicates that female patellofemoral joints are not “miniature versions” of the male joint, but have a distinctly different articular shape arrangement, which should be considered in the engineering of prostheses and biomechanical studies. The modest positive correlation between medial facet contact area and facet angle suggests some level of morphological integration between the variables. These structural differences are also inextricably linked to the quadriceps apparatus and may inform morphological differences which influence muscular forces and vectors acting on the knee joint.

Introduction: The facet angle of the patella is especially relevant to patella tracking and stability of the knee joint. This study analyzed facet angles based both on gender as well as epicondylar width between the lateral and medial facet surface areas. Methods: Typical dissection techniques were performed to remove the patella from formalin-fixed whole-body donors. Eighty-two patellae (44 Male and 38 Female) were scanned in a Bruker Skyscan 1276 µCT at 50µm resolution. Scans were imported into 3DSlicer (v.5.6.2) for segmentation. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between facet angle and femoral epicondylar width, as well as facet angle with medial and lateral facet surface area. An independent samples t-test was

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