Presentation 1341 Topic 14.

Cartilage biomechanics S163

HIP ANATOMICAL VARIATIONS AS A POSSIBLE ONSET OF

COXARTHROSIS IN YOUNG PATIENTS
Antonio J. Snchez Egea1, Jrme Noailly1, Marius Varela2, Ignasi Proubasta2, Damien Lacroix1
1
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
2
Department of Orthopedic and Traumatology, Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital,
Barcelona, Spain

Introduction The labrum shows a HP 500% higher than the

Coxarthrosis is a pathology linked to hip-cartilage reference model while for the cartilage, HP values
degeneration. The aetiology of this disease is not are reduced till 36%.
well defined although it is known that age is a
determinant risk factor. However, coxarthrosis in
young patient could be largely promoted by
biomechanical factors. The aim of this work was to
analyze the impact of anatomical variations
registered in young patients on the load
distributions numerically predicted at the hip-
cartilage tissue in routine activities.
Figure 2: HP distribution in the labrum of the
different anatomic models.
Methods
A detailed 3D finite element model of the femur
and the pelvis obtained from the VAKHUM
repository were assembled. The facies lunata, the
femoral cartilage, the labrum, and the ligaments
were included based on the literature [1]. Bone was
assumed to be linear elastic orthotropic [2], and
cartilage was assumed to be linear elastic in a first
approach. Ligaments were considered as cables
working only under traction. Figure 3: Normalized HP values (left) and ranking
The direct boundary method was used to simulate of the effect of anatomic variation on tissue HP
the hip contact. Simplified boundary conditions from the worst to the best scenario (right).
were applied to simulate normal walking and stair
climbing [3], i.e. the pelvis was constrained, and The Anterior side of the labrum shows the highest
the most relevant axial components of muscle HP values (Fig. 2), whereas at the femoral and
forces were applied on the femur, depending on the acetabular cartilage maximum values were found at
activity simulated. Anatomic angle variations were the interior part of these tissues following a non-
made following clinical observations. The neck uniform distribution. These results correlated well
shaft angle (CD), the femoral anteversion angle with other studies [4] and clinical evidences. The
(AF), and the acetabular anteversion angle (AA) labrum was the most affected tissue, and CD130
were varied between 110-130, 0-20, and 0-20, appeared as the most critical anatomical variation.
respectively (Fig. 1).
Conclusion
It is the first time that an analysis of the cartilage
and labrum matrix stress for different anatomic
variations is reported. Some angle variations were
shown to induce much higher stress in the labrum
suggesting that some levels of coxarthorsis should
Figure 1: AA angle variations simulated. be monitored closely in young patients to avoid
cartilage damage.
Results & Discussion
The hydrostatic pressure (HP) calculated in the References
cartilage and labrum showed that a 10 variation [1] Hewitt et al, J Arthroplasty, 17:82-89, 2002.
with respect to the reference (CD 120, AF 10 and [2] Dong et al, J Biomech, 37:1281-7, 2004.
AA 10) bring significant HP differences between [3] Heller at al, J Biomech, 38: 11551163, 2005.
the anatomic models (Figs. 2,3). [4] Anderson at al, J Biomech Eng, 130:1-10, 2008

ESB2012: 18th Congress of the European Society of Biomechanics Journal of Biomechanics 45(S1)