The Amount of Bone Trabeculae Supporting Subchondral Plate of Talar Body and Femoral Head

Authors

  • Boonchana Pongcharoen Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand
  • Worakarn Kruwanont Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand
  • Sitha Piyawinichwong Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand
  • Thossart Harnroongroj Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand

Abstract

Background: It is believed that the density of subchondral bone including the subchondral plate and the amount of subchondral trabeculae influences the stability of the articular surface. The collapse of the articular surface in avascular osteonecrosis is initiated by the fracture of subchondral plate and subchondral bone trabeculae. The collapse of the femoral head is found more often than that of the talar dome. A previous study showed that the talar body has a higher compressive strength than that of the femoral head. However, besides the thickness of the subchondral plate, the amount of subchondral bone trabeculae may account for the higher prevalence of the collapse of the avascular osteonecrosis of the femoral head than that of the talar body.

Objective: To compare the amount of bone trabeculae which supports the subchondral plate of the femoral head with that of the talar body.

Design: Experimental study

Material and Methods: Femoral heads and bodies of tali were harvested from 14 cadavers. Weight-bearing areas of the specimens were randomly selected and studied histologically by the technique of decalcified eosin-hematoxylin. The amount of bone trabeculae supporting the subchondral plate were counted by using a micrometer under light microscope.

Results: The amount of bone trabeculae supporting subchondral plate of the right tali ranged from 5 to 8 columns per 250 micron (mode= 7) and of the left tali ranged from 5 to 8 columns per 250 micron (mode 6), The corresponding figures of the right and left femoral head were 4 to 7 columns per 250 micron (mode = 5) and 3 to 5 columns per 250 micron (mode = 4) respectively. Statistical analysis showed that the amount of bone trabeculae supporting the subchondral plate of talus is significantly more than that of the femoral head.

Conclusion: The amount of bone trabeculae supporting the subchondral plate of talus was more than that of the femoral head.

Relevance: The results of this study suggest that one of the reasons why the prevalence of the collapse of avascular necrosis of the femoral head is higher than that of the talar body.

References

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Published

2003-12-29

How to Cite

1.
Pongcharoen B, Kruwanont W, Piyawinichwong S, Harnroongroj T. The Amount of Bone Trabeculae Supporting Subchondral Plate of Talar Body and Femoral Head. Thai J Surg [Internet]. 2003 Dec. 29 [cited 2024 Dec. 23];24(4):105-8. Available from: https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ThaiJSurg/article/view/242908

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 4 (2003): October - December

Section

Original Articles

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Articles must be contributed solely to The Thai Journal of Surgery and when published become the property of the Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand. The Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand reserves copyright on all published materials and such materials may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission.