PATELLA ALTA IN SOUTHERN CHINA - A NEW METHOD OF MEASUREMENT

The position of the patella in the Southern Chinese population is 15 t o 20% higher than in Western populations, both in controls and in dise ase. Those with patellar dislocation and anterior knee pain have signi ficantly higher patellae than the controls in both population groups, and this is confirmed in the 5 methods of measurement we have studied. Patella alta is more common in our region. The patella alta index des cribed in this paper provides a reliable and reproducible measurement of patellar height. A value of more than 3.4 is abnormal in our popula tion.