Abstract
Alignment, coverage and congruency are traditional keywords for the morphological interpretation of the hip joint. Most of the collected information come from ill-defined radiographs and are mainly used to characterize the capacity of a hip for load transmission. Accordingly threshold values for undercoverage are more precise than the definition of overcoverage.
The understanding of what is a normal hip anatomy is changing rapidly; other parameters have to be included as well. The impingement concept introducing motion as an important initiator of osteoarthritis is based on relatively minor morphological abnormalities of the hip which were of little interest until now. With high quality MRI we recently learned that a hip joint may have substantial cartilage damages although it looks radiographically normal.
This Symposium is a first attempt to update on our standards Puloski et al. point to weak radiographic parameters. Dora discusses hitherto barely noticed indicators like the acetabular version which has a high potential for morbidity. Beck et al explain the acetabular rim fragment, a structure which can be seen in dysplastic as well as in impinging hips. Finally Leunig et al. use the MRI-morphology of the labrum to distinguish between dysplasia and hip impingement in borderline hips.
Theses abstracts were prepared by Professor Roger Lemaire. Correspondence should be addressed to EFORT Central Office, Freihofstrasse 22, CH-8700 Küsnacht, Switzerland.
