SEVERE VARUS AND VALGUS DEFORMITIES TREATED BY TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY

We report a prospective case-controlled study which compared the outco me of knee replacement in seriously deformed and slightly deformed kne es. There were 51 knees with varus or valgus deformity greater than 20 degrees matched for age, gender, disease, type of prosthesis and time of operation with a control group in which the alignment of the leg w as within 5 degrees of normal. The clinical outcome at a mean 5.5 year s was similar in the two groups. Some deformity persisted in 14 patien ts in the first group, 13 of whom were initially in valgus. These pati ents had a significantly poorer mean clinical outcome. Lateral disloca tion or subluxation of the patella was found in four knees, all of whi ch had had valgus deformity of 30 degrees or more.