Scholarly Article
MORPHOMETRIC EVALUATION OF DRY HUMAN TALUS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RIGHT AND LEFT SIDED SPECIMENS
Jelia, Maneesha, Mogra, Khushboo, Jaiswal, Pratima, Mehra, Sandhya
2026-09-21 · International Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Research · Sumathi Publications
Abstract
Background: The talus is central to load transmission between the leg and foot, and its morphology has direct relevance to ankle and hindfoot biomechanics, fracture reconstruction, and implant design. Objective: To quantify selected morphometric parameters of dry human tali and compare right- and left-sided specimens. Methods: This cross-sectional morphometric study included 100 fully ossified dry tali of undetermined sex (51 right, 49 left) from the Department of Anatomy, Government Medical College, Kota, Rajasthan, India. Maximum anteroposterior length (MAPL), maximum transverse width (MTW), trochlear length (TL), circumference of the posterior calcaneal articular facet (CFACP), length and width of the sulcus tali (LST and WST), neck-body angle (NBA), and bone weight were recorded using a digital Vernier caliper, thread-based perimeter measurement, digital goniometer, and digital weighing scale, as appropriate. Right-left comparisons were performed using an independent-samples t-test, with nominal statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: Most measurements were closely comparable between sides. Mean weight was 13.54 ± 0.87 g on the right and 13.54 ± 0.92 g on the left (p = 0.97). MAPL, MTW, TL, CFACP, LST, and WST also showed no statistically significant side-related differences. NBA was 150.60 ± 4.20° on the right and 152.40 ± 4.40° on the left (unadjusted p = 0.04). Conclusion: The linear dimensions and weight of right- and left-sided tali were similar in this sample. A small nominal difference was observed in NBA; however, because the specimens were unpaired and eight comparisons were performed, this finding should be interpreted as exploratory rather than evidence of true within-individual bilateral asymmetry. The data add regional osteometric reference values that may be useful for anatomical research and may inform future work on talar reconstruction and implant design.
Keywords
Talus, Morphometry, Neck-body angle, Sulcus tali, Osteometry, Side-related variation
Citation Details
International Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Research, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 390-395