The Femoral Calcar Volume Ratio to Evaluate the Relationship Between Femoral Calcar and Age: A Preliminary Study

Three-dimensional reconstruction and quantitative analysis of the femoral calcar were performed to assess the feasibility of utilizing the femoral calcar volume ratio as a method for evaluating the correlation between the femoral calcar and age.Computed tomography (CT) images of the hip were collected from 196 subjects who had undergone hip CT scans.Three-dimensional reconstruction of the femoral calcar was performed, and the following parameters were measured: the height, length, width, volume, and CT value of the femoral calcar, as well as the volume and CT value of the cortical bone at the same level.The femoral calcar volume ratio was then calculated as the ratio of the cortical bone volume at the same level to the femoral calcar volume.Subsequently, the correlation between measurements and age was analyzed.Three-dimensional reconstruction of the femoral calcar exhibited good reliability and reproducibility (ICC > 0.963, P 0.05).The femoral calcar displayed diverse shapes, with the spur-type being the most common (39.8 %), followed by the ridge-type (28.1 %) and septum-type (26.5 %).The femoral calcar volume ratio was positively correlated with age in all subtypes (r=0.580-0.694).The presence or absence of the femoral calcar is not associated with age or sex.Among study subjects with a femoral calcar, the femoral calcar volume ratio increased with age.Calculation of the femoral calcar volume ratio provides a new method for the clinical assessment of changes in the femoral calcar.