ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana - Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2019 April;178(4):225-30

DOI: 10.23736/S0393-3660.18.03735-X

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

The validity of medial longitudinal arch measurements using ultrasound compared to that of caliper measurements

Hiroshi SHINOHARA ¹ ✉, Erika HORI ¹, Futoshi OBATA ¹, Masanori KOBAYASHI ¹, Yukio URABE ²

¹ Takarazuka University of Medical and Health Care, Takarazuka-shi, Hyogo, Japan; ² Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan

BACKGROUND: The medial longitudinal arch (MLA) often decreases in flatfoot and hallux valgus. MLA measurement is commonly performed in the clinic and many methods are used for calculating MLA using the navicular height. However, the method for analyzing the position of the medial cuneiform bone has not been reported. The authors considered ascertaining this position via ultrasonography, and in this study, investigated the validity of MLA measurement using ultrasonography and the usefulness of MLA calculated based on the position of the medial cuneiform bone.
METHODS: The subjects were 20 university students (total, 40 feet). MLA was calculated using calipers and ultrasonography. When the ultrasound apparatus was used, the height of the navicular and medial cuneiform bone were calculated. A specially made instrument was used, which made a probe move horizontally when the ultrasound was used. Pearson correlation analyses were performed to assess the significance of the association between the caliper-measured MLA (C-MLA) and the ultrasound-measured MLA (U-MLA).
RESULTS: In the standing position, the correlation between C-MLA (navicular) and U-MLA (navicular) was excellent (r=0.90, P<0.001). The correlation between C-MLA (navicular) and U-MLA (medial cuneiform) was good (r=0.82, P<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the hypothesis of this study, the correlation between U-MLA and C-MLA was high in the standing position. MLA measurement was more detailed with a high correlation between the height of the medial cuneiform bone and that of the navicular.

KEY WORDS: Ultrasonography - Hallux valgus - Gait