Radiologic Morphology of the Calcaneus

Abstract

Background: The Fowler-Philip, calcaneal pitch, and total calcaneal angles define the radiologic morphology of the rearfoot. We studied these angles in healthy adolescents. Methods: We studied 141 feet. Patients with inflammatory or traumatic injuries were excluded. The mean participant age was 11.5 years. The Fowler-Philip, calcaneal pitch, and total calcaneal angles were measured on lateral weightbearing radiographs. The statistics included descriptive, sample size (α=0.05 and β=0.20), the Student t test, and analysis of variance; P < .05 was considered significant. Results: The samples were 141 and 35 radiographs for the Fowler-Philip and calcaneal pitch angles, respectively. Ninety percent, 25.1%, and 97.4% of the adolescents had normal Fowler-Philip, calcaneal pitch, and total calcaneal angles, respectively. In addition, 9.9%, 74.9%, and 2.6% of the values were outside the reference ranges, respectively. The Fowler-Philip angle decreased and the calcaneal pitch angle increased significantly with age (P = .0005). The total calcaneal angle did not change with age (P = .65). Conclusions: The mean angle values in a pediatric population did not differ from those in adults. We found a high percentage of calcaneal pitch angles outside the reference range. Age influenced the Fowler-Philip and calcaneal pitch angles but not the total calcaneal angle. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 103(1): 32–35, 2013)