Partial articular, coronal plane fractures of the posterior part of femoral condyles are called Hoffa fractures. It was first described by Albert Hoffa; a German surgeon in 1904.
They are rare and account for less than 1% of distal femoral fractures. In one study on supracondylar intercondylar fractures of distal femur, 38% had a coronal fracture. Of these 76% were unicondylar and rest were bicondylar. 85% of unicondylar fractures involved the lateral condyle.
They are three times more common in the lateral femoral condyle probably because of following reasons;
1) Physiologic genu valgum which puts greater compressive stresses on the lateral side
2) Frontal impact on a flexed knee is more likely to involve the outer aspect resulting in shearing force on the posterior part of lateral femoral condyle.
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