Radiographic anatomy of the foot and ankle-part 5. The phalanges.

Background: The normal radiographic anatomy of the foot and ankle, aside from my previous work, has been addressed only superficially or sparingly in the medical literature. This project correlates the detailed radiographic anatomy of the entire adult foot and ankle (two-dimensional) to osteology (three-dimensional).

Methods: Each bone's position was determined after meticulous examination and correlation to an articulated skeleton relative to the image receptor and direction of the x-ray beam, with correlation to the radiograph for confirmation.

Results: Images of each foot and distal leg bone ("front" and "back" perspectives) are presented alongside a corresponding radiographic image for comparison. The normal gross and radiographic anatomy is correlated and described for each radiographic positioning technique.

Conclusions: Foundational knowledge is provided that future researchers can use as a baseline ("normal") and that students and practitioners can use for comparison when interpreting radiographs and distinguishing abnormal findings. The results of the original project, owing to its broad scope, have been divided into five parts: the lower leg, the greater tarsus, the lesser tarsus, the metatarsals, and the phalanges (the focus of this article).