PERTHES-DISEASE AFTER IRRITABLE HIP - DELAYED BANE AGE SHOWS THE HIP IS A MARKED MAN

We report 13 children, aged 4 through 8 years, who were seen with a pr olonged or recurrent irritable hip syndrome. Only those with >2 years' delay in their bone age eventually declared themselves to have been i n the early phase of Perthes' disease at initial examination when the original hip radiographs had been normal. A plain wrist radiograph was found to be a useful screening tool to differentiate those who should have early repeat investigation such as radiographs, or preferably a magnetic resonance image scan if available, to detect the disease in i ts initial phase. This facilitated early regular imaging to assess fem oral head shape and so permitted early treatment before deformity had occurred in those with whole-head involvement.