The relationship between the accessory anterolateral talar facet and angle of Gissane

Background: A small accessory facet with articular surface morphology is occasionally seen on the talus, bordering on the lateral end of the sinus tarsi. This facet has been named the accessory Anterolateral Talar Facet (AALTF). Some investigators suggested the association between smaller angles of Gissane and the presence of the AALTF. The smaller angle of Gissane might be a causative factor of the pain in the lateral part of the hindfoot. However, there were only few anatomical investigations concerning the presence of AALTF and the crucial angle of Gissane.

Objective: We report the correlation between the presence of AALTF and the crucial angle of Gissane in feet from the educational bone samples and fixed cadavers. Materials and Methods: A total of 22 paired tali and calcanei from the 11 skeleton samples and total of 22 (11 male and 11 female) adult cadavers were examined.

Results: The crucial angle of Gissane was significantly larger in AALTF positive samples than in negative ones of bone samples. However, no significant difference about the crucial angle of Gissane between AALTF positive samples and negative ones could be found in the cadaveric study.
Conclusion: Our results using educational bone samples differed from the results of the previous studies. This might come from the factors of age and human race specificity.