Publication

A new radiographic method of measuring carpal collapse

Journal Paper/Review - Jan 1, 1997

Units
PubMed

Citation
Zdravkovic V, Sennwald G. A new radiographic method of measuring carpal collapse. J Bone Joint Surg Br 1997; 79:167-9.
Type
Journal Paper/Review (English)
Journal
J Bone Joint Surg Br 1997; 79
Publication Date
Jan 1, 1997
Issn Print
0301-620X
Pages
167-9
Brief description/objective

We assessed carpal collapse by measuring the capitate-radius (CR) distance on standard plain radiographs. This new method required validation of diagnostic accuracy, so we compared it with the method of Nattrass et al known as revised carpal height (RCH). We studied wrist radiographs from 16 normal subjects and 11 patients with unilateral Kienböck's disease. We found that there was a significant difference in the left/right CR index between the normal wrists and those with Kienbock's disease (p < 0.001). The use of left/right RCH index showed no significant difference (p = 0.30). Diagnostic accuracy was shown to be higher for the CR index using ROC curves. We then assessed 40 normal wrists and found the mean CR index to be 0.999 +/- 0.034, and suggest that values less than 0.92 are abnormal. The CR index can be used for diagnosis in unilateral carpal collapse, and for monitoring progress where the condition is bilateral.