Digital Radiographic Assessment of Tibiofemoral Joint Space Width –A Variance Component Analysis

Heidi L. Oksendahl; Nigel Gomez; Colleen S. Thomas; Gary D. Badger; Michael J. Hulstyn; Paul D. Fadale; Braden C. Fleming

doi:10.1055/s-0030-1247750

The Journal of Knee Surgery, Table of Contents

J Knee Surg 2009; 22(3): 205-212
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1247750

Original Article

Digital Radiographic Assessment of Tibiofemoral Joint Space Width – A Variance Component Analysis

Heidi L. Oksendahl¹ , Nigel Gomez¹ , Colleen S. Thomas² , Gary D. Badger² , Michael J. Hulstyn¹ , Paul D. Fadale¹ , Braden C. Fleming^1, ³

¹The Department of Orthopaedics, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI
²The Department of Medical Biostatistics, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vt
³The Division of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI

Abstract

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to evaluate sources of variability when the metatarsal-phalangeal (MTP) semiflexed radiographic technique is used to measure the tibiofemoral joint space width in the medial and lateral compartments of the knee. Three independent digital MTP radiographs were obtained from both knees of 9 participants. The joint space widths of both compartments of each knee were measured 3 times by 2 independent examiners. Intraclass correlation coefficients were high between repeated radiographs, between examiners, and within examiners (range, 0.91-0.98). These 3 error components accounted for 9% and 14% of the total variance for the medial and lateral compartments, respectively. The estimated SDs across radiographs for the medial and lateral compartments were 0.093 mm and 0.155 mm. The digital radiographic technique based on the MTP view is a simple and reliable technique for measuring the joint space width that can be readily used to track longitudinal changes in cartilage thickness after knee joint surgery.

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