A preliminary study on the morphology of the fovea capitis femoris

Abstract

Purpose: The fovea capitis femoris (FCF) serves as a landmark for hip arthroscopy and has anthropological importance. Nevertheless, number of studies that evaluate its morphology is scarce. This study was aimed to investigate the morphology of FCF on dry human femora.Methods: Seventy nine (38 right, 41 left) bones with no record of age or sex from the collection of Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy were evaluated. FCF shape, location, and presence of perifoveal grooves, notches, or osteophytes were investigated. Results: The shape of the FCF was circular, oval, triangular, and irregular in 39.2%, 39.2%, 15.1%, and 6.3% of cases, respectively. All FCF were located at the posteroinferior quadrant of the femoral head. More than half (56.1%) of the femora had a perifoveolar groove or notch and 30.3% had osteophytes around the fovea. FCF shape and presence of perifoveal groove/notch were not siginificantly different between right and left sides. Similarly, presence of perifoveal groove/notch was not siginificantly different among different FCF shapes.

Conclusions: Detailed preliminary observations were carried out on the morphology of the FCF in a Turkish population. Further investigations on the relationship between FCF morphology and femoral morphometry including femoral neck angle and femoral torsion angle are planned.