We have reviewed a consecutive series of six professional footballers who presented with intractable hip pain which was attributed at arthroscopy, to an anterior acetabular labral tear with adjacent chondral damage. The location and type of labral tear were identical for each patient. There was no evidence of
The transiliac method of leg lengthening uses a modification of Salter's innominate osteotomy. The bone graft increases the length of the hemipelvis distal to the sacro-iliac joint. Leg-length inequality in 23 patients was treated by this method with an average gain in length of 2.8 cm (2.0 to 3.5). Apart from one residual femoral nerve palsy there were no notable complications. The facility to redirect the acetabulum allowed by the technique, may be useful in cases of potential hip instability or
We have previously described a simple and reproducible three-dimensional technique of CT for the measurement of the cover of the femoral head in
The hips of twenty full-term African neonates have been examined in detail to determine any anatomical factors which might explain the difference in the incidence of congenital dislocation of the hip in the African and in the Caucasian. Measurements included the degree of anteversion of the femoral neck and the acetabulum and the diameter and depth of the acetabulum. The acetabulum tended to be deeper and to vary within a much narrower range than that reported for Caucasians, lending indirect support to the theoretical role of
Rotational acetabular osteotomy (RAO) has been reported to be effective in improving symptoms and preventing osteoarthritis (OA) progression in patients with mild to severe develomental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). However, some patients develop secondary OA even when the preoperative joint space is normal; determining who will progress to OA is difficult. We evaluated whether the preoperative cartilage condition may predict OA progression following surgery using T2 mapping MRI. We reviewed 61 hips with early-stage OA in 61 patients who underwent RAO for DDH. They underwent preoperative and five-year postoperative radiological analysis of the hip. Those with a joint space narrowing of more than 1 mm were considered to have 'OA progression'. Preoperative assessment of articular cartilage was also performed using 3T MRI with the T2 mapping technique. The region of interest was defined as the weightbearing portion of the acetabulum and femoral head.Aims
Methods
The anterior centre-edge (VCA) angle quantifies the anterior cover of the femoral head, and angles of less than 20° are considered abnormal. We have measured the VCA angles in hips without osteoarthritic changes. We took bilateral false-profile radiographs of nine female and 30 male cadavers without signs of osteoarthritis. The mean age at the time of death was 72 years (46 to 92). The mean VCA angle was 32.8° (17.7 to 53.6). The SD was 7.9°. Our findings suggest that the threshold of abnormality of the VCA angle may be slightly lower than previously thought. This information may be useful in counselling patients with asymptomatic
Ten children who had clinically stable hips at birth were radiographed at one month because they had factors predisposing to hip dislocation. In all cases one or both hips gave rise to a suspicion of dysplasia, though clinical abnormalities were slow to appear. Four of these hips subsequently dislocated. We believe that infants with late presentation of
We studied the pathogenesis, incidence and consequences of avascular necrosis in 184 children treated for congenital dislocation of the hip. Of 210 hips, 99 (47%) had some evidence of avascular necrosis (total 81, partial 18). The incidence was not influenced by the age at reduction, the duration of traction or the use of adductor tenotomy. Patients treated by closed reduction without preliminary traction did not have a higher incidence of avascular necrosis. At long-term clinical and radiological review of 81 hips, early avascular necrosis significantly increased the chance of a poor outcome but did not predispose to
To determine the natural history of dislocation of the hip in cerebral palsy, and to evolve methods to predict dislocation, the notes and radiographs of 462 patients with cerebral palsy were reviewed. Dislocation occurred in 10% of patients by progressive migration and subluxation of the proximal femur in the presence of
We evaluated the long-term results of a modified Spitzy shelf operation for secondary osteoarthritis in 119 hips with a mean follow-up of 23.8 years. The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was 25 years. Preoperative osteoarthritic change, the age at operation and shelf height were important factors in determining the outcome. Of the 61 hips in the pre-stage (three) and the initial stage (58) of osteoarthritis, 53 (87%) had good results, compared with only 30 (51%) of 58 hips with advanced osteoarthritis. Of the latter, 72% of those aged less than 25 years had good results compared with only 40% of patients aged over 25 years. The shelf height in the group with good results was significantly lower than in those with poor results. This operation is a safe procedure and indicated for
We studied the morphological changes in the proximal femur in 42 patients (42 hips) who had had varus derotation osteotomy of the upper femur for residual
After late reduction of the hip in children with developmental
Shelf arthroplasty is briefly reviewed in historical perspective and the results in 45 hips (39 patients) which had undergone this procedure at the Royal Children's Hospital are presented. The majority of these patients were adolescents who had previously been treated for congenital dislocation or subluxation of the hip. The indications for operation and the operative technique are discussed. Clinical examination was carried out upon 33 of the 39 patients at an average of 11 years after operation. The results suggested that where pain had been an indication for operation almost 80 percent of the hips remained relatively free of symptoms at the time of follow-up and in those patients where
We treated 31 hips in 30 patients with advanced osteoarthritis of the hip secondary to
We have determined the natural history of hip development in 42 patients with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia (MED). Premature osteoarthritis was a frequent outcome and was almost inevitable before the age of 30 years in those with incongruent hips. There were two types of immature hips: type I, the more severe form, had a fragmented and flattened ossific nucleus and
We performed Charnley total hip arthroplasties on 64 patients (71 hips) between 1976 and 1984 for moderate congenital
The hip problems in 116 children with myelomeningocele are discussed. The management described stresses the importance of selection of the type of operation; major surgery is appropriate only for those children who benefit significantly, and this generally means only those with strong quadriceps muscles on both sides. Some children with
We report the six-year results of a prospective, controlled demographic trial of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) treated in the Pavlik harness using ultrasound supervision. Our aim was to assess the value of ultrasound and its role in monitoring reduction in the harness, in terms of progression or failure of reduction at an early state. From 1988 to 1994, a total of 221 patients with 370 ultrasonographically abnormal hips was treated in the Pavlik harness. This represents a treatment rate for the Southampton district of 5.1 per 1000 live births. Sixteen hips in 12 patients were not reduced in the harness and required surgical treatment; 95.7% were successfully reduced. One case of mild avascular necrosis (0.3%) was identified in those treated by harness alone. Of the 221 patients 87.8% remain under radiological review, with 3.2% of affected hips showing continued, mild
We have reviewed the serial radiographs of 63 hips in 53 children treated by closed reduction for congenital dislocation with a view to finding a radiological measurement which can predict subsequent acetabular development. All had been followed for more than seven years, and at latest review, 34 hips were dysplastic. Failure to obtain concentric reduction or its loss by migration of the femoral head within one year of reduction were the best predictors of persisting
The division of osteoarthritis into primary and secondary varieties implies that these are aetiologically distinct entities, the former being due to some intrinsic defect of cartilage and the latter resulting from previous articular damage. This traditional concept is questioned and the hypothesis is advanced that osteoarthritis is always secondary to some underlying abnormality of the joint. A detailed clinical, radiographic and morbid anatomical study of 327 cases of osteoarthritis of the hip is presented. In all but twenty-seven some predisposing abnormality of the joint was diagnosed: 107 (33%) were associated with major pathology such as Perthes' disease or epiphysiolysis; minor