Perigraphic Study of the Proximal Half of the Human Femoral Diaphysis

Abstract

This paper presents a quantitative description of the proximal half of the human femoral diaphysis, Perigraphic shapes of 24 human femurs were investigated successively from the subtrochanteric region toward the midshaft. Flatness and torsion of the outer (periosteal) contour of cross sections of the proximal diaphyses were represented by a newly defined section index and the major principal direction, respectively.
First, rotation of the major principal axis along the length of the diaphysis revealed that various extents of "femoral torsion" exist in most of the diaphyses, the term of which used to be the angle between the femoral neck and the lower end of the femur. Second, changes of flatness and torsion of the diaphyseal cross sections were combined to classify femurs and showed that there were at least 4 types of femurs. Third, the strong flatness and small variation of rotation of the principal axis at the subtrochanteric region suggest the morphological trend of the cross section there, which may be interpreted in mechanical terms.