Abstract
Introduction
Recently, femoroacetabular impingement has been postulated as an important cause for the development of primary osteoarthritis of the hip. Various studies have shown that primary osteoarthritis of the hip is rare amongst Asians including Indians. We conducted an anthropometric study to evaluate prevalence of abnormal head-neck offset in Indian population and to correlate it with the low prevalence of primary osteoarthritis in Indian population.
Material and Methods
We retrospectively evaluated three dimensional CT scans of hips conducted as a part of another project done over a period of two years at our institute. An axial image was created parallel to the central axis of the femoral neck and passing through the centre of the femoral head using coronal scout view. This image was then used to calculate Alpha and Beta angles and head-neck offset ratio.
Results
The average alpha angle (45.6°) reported in our study is similar to that reported in a Western population. Similarly, the prevalence of abnormal offset ratio found in our study (11.8%) is similar to the estimated prevalence of 10-15% of FAI in a Western population.
Conclusion
We conclude that differences in the prevalence of hip osteoarthritis in Indian and Western populations cannot be explained on the basis of variation in prevalence of FAI and other factors may be responsible.
