Wiberg's center-edge angle in patients with slipped capital femoral epiphysis

Wiberg's center-edge (CE) angle was measured in 104 patients with slipped c apital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) to determine whether it correlates with a d eeper acetabulum. Initially, the radiographs of 45 pre- and mild slip patie nts (group Ii were measured using the contour of the femoral head to determ ine the head center (point C) as described by Wiberg's original article and , alternatively, using the acetabular line (Visser's method). In addition, the radiographs of 59 patients with moderate and severe slip (group II) wer e measured in both ways. The measurements were not statistically different between both methods and between the two groups. In 78 unilateral slips, th e Mann-Whitney test did not show statistical differences between the normal side and the affected hip (p > 0.05). The Wiberg's CE angle of 58 patients was compared with that of a group control of the same age, gender, and rac e. The Wiberg's CE angle was significantly higher in patients with SCFE (p < 0.05), the same being true when comparing the white and nonwhite patients separately (p < 0.05 and p < 0.05, respectively). Theories involving biome chanical stress in the adolescent hip can explain the majority of slips occ urring in an otherwise healthy child. The femoral head with a better covera ge yields more shearing stress across the epiphyseal line. This, associated with hormonal disorders, trauma, or another deleterious factor, can progre ss to its failure.