Morphometric analysis of the patterns of calcaneal facets for the talus in Serbian population

Abstract

Literature describes different patterns of calcaneal facets for the talus in terms of whether some calcaneal facets are connected or separated from each other or completely absent. The aim of this study was to establish the patterns of calcaneal facets for the talus, to calculate their total area, and to analyse the data with respect to gender. The study involved 59 calcanei which were photographed. The patterns of calcaneal facets noted in this study were compared with the patterns from the literature. ImageJ program was used to measure different parameters on calcanei. The pattern 1 was the most commonly found in the study sample (45.76%), then the pattern 2 (40.68%), and finally the pattern 3 (13.56%). That order of frequencies is the same in both sexes. The patterns 1 and 2 have a larger contact surface for the talus in comparison to the pattern 3. Male bones have a larger contact surface for the talus than female bones. The sum of the pattern 1 and pattern 3 frequencies was high. Knowing the frequency of different patterns of calcaneal facets for the talus in a certain population is important for orthopaedic surgeons when performing foot osteotomy.

The talus of the pre‐Hispanic population from Punta Azul (El Hierro, Canary Islands): Variability and sexual dimorphism of nonmetric traits

“…There were no differences observed among males and females regarding the frequency of type B or type C talo‐calcaneal facets, being consistent with the results obtained by other authors (Jung et al, 2015; Vučinić et al, 2020), but in disagreement with the results reported by others (Lee et al, 2012). Unfortunately, in many cases, sex association is not known, because sex was not reported in most studies (Anjaneyulu et al, 2014; Bilodi, 2006; Murerwa et al, 2020; Sharada et al, 2012; Uygur et al, 2009).…”

“…As commented earlier, different facet configurations had been observed in the second and third trimesters of unborn fetuses (Bunning & Barnett, 1965; Rehman, 2014) pointing to an important genetic influence. Some studies have suggested that the talo‐calcaneal facet frequencies, which have been shown to differ between various populations, are sufficient evidence to state that the talo‐calcaneal joint morphology is strongly affected by genes (Garg et al, 2013; Nagar et al, 2012; Parimala & Reddy, 2016; Vučinić et al, 2020). For example, data from some European and North African samples show a predominance of three facets (Bunning & Barnett, 1965; Saadeh et al, 2000), but other European samples have shown a predominance of two facets (Forriol Campos & Gomez Pellico, 1989; Gupta et al, 1977; Uygur et al, 2009).…”