THE ROLE OF A NEWLY DEFINED EPIPHYSEAL VE RSION IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF EPIPHYSIOLYSIS-CAPITIS-FEMORIS - (ADDITIONALLY TO EPIPHYSEAL DISLOCATION AND EPIPHYSEAL TORSION)

The displacement of the femoral epiphysis in epiphyseolysis capitis fe moris is usually determined by measuring both the epiphysis-diaphysis angle (ED angle) in the plane of the dislocation and the epiphysis-tor sion angle (ET angle) in the torsional plane. In this paper we define an epiphyseal version angle (EV angle) in the sagittal plane of the fe mur, calculate it trigonometrically and show it in diagrams and tables . The clinical application of the EV angle indicates that in cases of displacement with an ED angle of less than 135-degrees, absolute displ acement is better shown than with the ET angle. Additionally, the EV a ngle improves our comprehension of the 3-D displacement due to the fac t that, in the ''Lauenstein'' x-ray, the femur is increasingly project ed more in a sagittal plane with increasing abduction. The essential c orrection using the Imhauser-osteotomy is also done in the sagittal pl ane. The ability of the orthopaedic surgeon to visualize the situation in three dimensions is also improved by this additional standard plan e.