A detailed description of the patella in degenerative joint disease in a large series of cases has not been reported in the literature. The marked increase in the number of patellectomies for this disease in recent years has made this study possible. Young and Regan8 published a report in 1945 which indicated that 18 patellectomies for degenerative joint disease had been performed at the Mayo Clinic up to that time. During the five-year period, 1950 through 1954, a total of 154 patellectomies for degenerative joint disease were performed by surgeons at the Mayo Clinic. The purpose of this paper is to report the changes found in the patellas and the results of a follow-up study of the patients operated on during this five-year period.
Anatomic and Pathologic Considerations
The patella is a triangular bone, the apex of which points distally, and this shape is best recognized from the anterior,