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Our aim was to determine the prevalence of sesamoid bones in adult black Malawians from radiographs of the hands and feet. A total of 255 radiographs from 85 men and 45 women aged 16-66 years were used: 126 of the hands and 129 of the feet. All the hand films revealed one sesamoid bone at the interphalangeal joint and two at the metacarpophalangeal joint of the thumb. All the foot films showed two sesamoid bones at the metatarsophalangeal joint of the big toe. Occasional sesamoid bones were found at the metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints of the index finger and the small toe, respectively. Only 4.8% of the hands had sesamoid bones at the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index finger, compared with reported percentages of between 35% and 64.2% in Caucasians. The present study also records, probably for the first time in Africans, an incidence of 10.8% of sesamoid bones occurring at the metatarsophalangeal joint of the small toe, which again is at variance with the reported range of 5.5-10% in Caucasians. This study provides anatomical data that will help in the diagnosis and management of disorders of sesamoid bones which are often overlooked in Africans.

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Pelvic X-rays of 99 adult patients (198 hips) were analysed in 58 men and 41 women to determine the morphology of the adult hip in Malawians. For each hip the centre edge angle of Wiberg, the acetabular angle of Sharp and the acetabular head index were measured. For each parameter, women were more dysplastic than men, and for the acetabular angle of Sharp there was a significant gender difference (p<0.05, t test). Our figures were compared to those of Fujii et al. who had measured the same parameters in Japanese and British hips. His results taken with ours showed that within a racial group, women were more dysplastic that men and that Japanese hips were more dysplastic than British hips, which were in turn more dysplastic than Malawian hips.Résumé Les radiographies pelviennes de 99 malades adultes (198 hanches) ont été analysées chez 58 hommes et 41 femmes pour déterminer la morphologie de la hanche adulte au Malawi. Pour chaque hanche, l'angle de Wiberg, l'angle acétabulaire de Sharp, et l'Index Tête /Acétabulum ont été mesurés. Pour chaque paramètre les femmes étaient plus dysplasiques que les hommes et pour l'angle acétabulaire de Sharp il y avait une différen-ce significative selon le sexe (p <0.05, t-test). Nos chiffres ont été comparés à ceux de Fujii et coll. qui avaient mesuré les mêmes paramètres sur des hanches japonais et britanniques. Ses résultats, considérés avec les nôtres, ont montré que dans un groupe racial les femmes étaient plus dysplasiques que les hommes, et les hanches japonaises étaient plus dysplasiques que les hanches britanniques elles-même plus dysplasiques que les hanches du Malawi.