Radiographic study on the anatomical characteristics of the proximal femur in Brazilian adults.

Objective: To ascertain the geometry of the femur in the Brazilian population by means of a radiographic study and to correlate the values with regard to sex and right/left side.

Methods: Five hundred anteroposterior radiographs of the pelvis of skeletally mature patients (250 of each sex) who did not present any osteoarthrosis, fractures or tumoral or infectious lesions were analyzed. The length and width of the femoral neck, length of the femoral axis, neck-shaft angle and femoral offset were measured.

Results: The following means were observed: 36.54 mm for the length of the femoral neck; 37.48 mm for the width of the femoral neck; 108.42 mm for the length of the femoral axis; 130.47° for the neck-shaft angle; and 44.4 mm for the femoral offset.

Conclusion: The mean values for the main measurements on the proximal femur in Brazilians differed from those of previous studies. It could also be shown that there was a statistically significant mean difference between men and women for all the variables, both on the left and on the right side, and that the men had greater means than the women.