KIENBOCK-DISEASE AND NEGATIVE ULNAR VARIANCE

We compared the degree of ulnar variance, measured on standardized rad iographs of the wrist, in forty-four patients who had Kienbock disease ,vith that in ninety-nine control subjects who had been selected from a general clinic population and had radiographs of the wrist. The purp ose of our study was to determine if there is a true relationship betw een negative ulnar variance and the development of Kienbock disease. G ender was not found to influence the degree of ulnar variance, but an association was found between age and negative ulnar variance in both the control subjects and the patients who had Kienbock disease. The fi ndings of the present study confirmed an association between negative ulnar variance and the development of Kienbock disease even after corr ection for the influence of age on the measurement of ulnar variance.